Flip Flopped: JNPR AU
by thehemingwaydilemma
Summary: Jaune and Pyrrha may have met at Beacon, and Ren and Nora might have been friends since... well, forever, but what would it have looked like if those instances were reversed? Find out as life long friends Jaune and Pyrrha start their first year together at Beacon while everyone's favorite polar opposites meet for the first time (disaster likely to ensue).
1. Chapter 1: Jaune

_A/N:_

_Hey there! Welcome to the story! I've been toying with a lot of ideas lately, and since my current fic, Thunderflowers, is in the final stages, I decided to give one a shot (hey, I love JNPR, you're gonna hear a lot of my love for them). These chapters may not be nearly as long as Thunder Flowers, mostly because I aim for this to be more lighthearted and energetic and I may not be able to write as often as I like thanks to University life. _

_As always, feel free to PM me with reviews, ideas, thoughts, etc. Love you all and hope you enjoy!_

_~thd_

* * *

Chapter One

"Uuugh… don't tell me we hit another bump?"

"Oh Jaune, don't be silly. We don't hit bumps when we're flying… that's called turbulence!"

The blonde boy nodded weakly from his seat at the ship's side. _Why did he half to get motion sickness so much?_ Road trips, train rides, flying in aircraft… there was nothing worse than having to deal with a moving vehicle for Jaune Arc.

At least he had Pyrrha with him. The red haired girl still refused to let Jaune be by himself as his stomach turned from the flight. Still in her armor, her green eyes smiled at his curled up form, one hand gently massaging the middle of his back. A few people snickered at the two sitting there together, but a glare from Pyrrha usually sent them on their way. Almost everyone knew of Pyrrha's reputation as a champion athlete, and no one wanted to get on her bad side this early in the year.

Jaune took a few more deep breathes, hoping he'd calm down enough to avoid hurling. "How much longer do you think it'll be?" he groaned to Pyrrha, eyes squinted open by a fracture.

Pyrrha, glancing at her watch, smiled and patted his back. "Only ten more minutes, Jaune. Now," here she stood up with that dignity Jaune wished he had, "I'm going to try and get us something to drink. Will you be okay here?"

Jaune waved his hand, not wanting to be a bother. "Go for it, you shouldn't have to waste your ride like this." Before she could retort, the blonde boy did his best grin back and gave her his thumbs up. "Enjoy the view for me, okay?"

Pyrrha half pouted before shrugging and striding further away to find the beverage cart. Alone with this thoughts, Jaune slumped against the wall, his stomach listening just this once – how long it would last was subject to change.

The Arc boy found himself smiling to himself. Beacon Academy – it still amazed him that he had managed to get into such a prestigious school on such a low ranking. Then again, he had the help of lifelong friend Pyrrha Nikos and the pressure of his father, grandfather, and practically every other man in his family to count for, so he must have been able to do something right with all those influences. But regardless, Jaune was going to enjoy this final chance at fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a great warrior and living up to his family heritage. His heart swelled with –

Sadly enough, his heart wasn't the only thing swelling. Jaune lurched forward as the all too familiar burn of stomach acid to the back of his mouth rose up in this throat, hand firmly clamped over his mouth. Scanning to make sure he didn't attract too much attention already, Jaune quickly walked over too a nearby trash can and nonchalantly spat out the nasty tasting vomit before he drew any more attention to himself and Pyrrha.

He heaved a sigh. That Pyrrha, she certainly didn't need this any more than he did. Someone on the cover of all those cereal boxes didn't need to also have the reputation of being friends with the biggest oaf on campus. He shuddered in remembrance of that painful four years of combat school; coming in dead last, the teasing at the hands of other athletes, the pointed fingers and shrieking laughs. Pyrrha didn't have to stick by him and shut them up with one harsh glare, but somehow she did. If she hadn't come with the idea for him to be her "personal trainer" or "tournament attendant" or whatever it was, he may not have made it through high school.

Jaune pushed the flashbacks out of his mind as he say Pyrrha stride over with two cups of water, placing one into Jaune's hands before sitting next to him, idly sipping hers. She reached over and dropped a red capsule in Jaune's water. He narrowed his eyes as the tablet started to dissolve as it sank to the bottom. He arched a quizzical eyebrow at his red-headed friend, hoping she wasn't expecting this to go by without explanation.

"Don't look at me like that," Pyrrha said with more sass than one might think was possible for a girl with modesty beyond modest, "you know how my mom is about Mistral herbal remedies." She casually took another sip of her drink, attention focused on a hologram of a lady from the school. "It's supposed to help upset stomach, try it."

Giving the bitter smelling solvent a quick taste, Jaune decided to give it a try. _It's not so bad once you – OH GOD IT'S LIKE OLD SNEAKER JUICE _Jaune mentally screamed, fighting back the gag reflex as he tried to choke down the red liquid his partner had said was going to help. He just hoped she was right, he wasn't choking this down for himself at this point.

Taking a deep gasp breath as he finally pulled the cup way from his lips, Jaune wiped the back of his sleeve against his mouth, turning to Pyrrha with his usual thumbs up. "Not bad," he said, hoping he had her fooled but knowing the answer.

"That bad?" she asked, punching him lightly on the arm.

"To the point where I'm surprised that it's supposed to work."

She chuckled. "Well, wait a few minutes and just hope it'll work."

"Oh good, then I can spend the landing of a twenty minute ride feeling great."

"But at least you'll be able to get off the ship without causing a scene, right?"

Jaune rewarded his pal with an attempt at a suave point of his index finger. "_That_… is actually kind of worth it."


	2. Chapter 2: Nora

Chapter 2

The aircraft came down with a hiss of the engines and an excited sigh from many students aboard. As the glass doors to the exit slid open, students began to file out and make their way towards the campus that they'd call home for the next four years. A mixture of exhilaration, apprehension, and curiosity hung in the air, each student feeling a strong mixture of all three as they strode out of the doors.

And just like that, the serene atmosphere was broken with a vividly pink swirling vortex of excitement, excitement, and… well, excitement.

Nora Valkyrie zoomed out of the doors, arms spread out wide as she screamed happily at the sky, challenging it to feel any better than she did. "Omigosh omigosh oh. MY. GOOOOOSH!" she squealed, dancing in place as the now freaked out and unsure students carefully tiptoed around the volcano of molten lunacy that talked to anyone who made the mistake of eye contact. "I can't believe we're here! I mean we're actually at Beacon Academy! Not like we'd get kicked off the ship or anything, I just can't believe we're actually here! Hey, you _guys_!" Nora pulled at the three girls who she had cornered and talked at during the entire flight, "come check it out, I mean there's an entire view of this great forest and stuff! I mean there's probably a boat load of Grimm for us to –!"

"No, no, it's fine, goodbye!" one of the girls said as she grabbed her luggage and dashed off, the other girls already dashing off towards their next destination, leaving Nora Valkyrie alone… again.

Not that Nora was affected, or even bothered by them leaving. She shrugged, skipping off towards the school, her mind already wandering around. Nora was too excited to be at her new school to worry about the girls, so she proceeded to skip ahead, eyes wandering through the crowd.

_Hmm, who looks like they know where they're going?_ she mused to herself, skipping leisurely through the campus she would call home for the next four years. She heard something about an orientation on the flight over, but she couldn't remember what time or place it was at. And to make matters worse, too many people were meandering and not really going in any set direction, which made it hard for the Valkyrie to piggy back off anyone else for help. She would have continued her skipping – and following the flight of a cerulean blue butterfly that caught her attention – if not for the sudden bump in her path.

"Ooph!" Nora stumbled a bit, regaining her attention as she realized she had stopped. As she found the center of her balance again, she found the source of her skipping-deprivation: a girl, slim and surrounded by suitcases, sprawled on the floor, a soft-pitched groan coming from her lips.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so sorry!" said Nora, cheery daydreaming heading home for the day while apologetic anxiety took the next shift in Nora's wide spectrum of emotional highs; the pink enthusiast zipped around, haphazardly sticking the array of suitcases back on their little trolley-thingy. She then turned to her new friend, smile at the ready. "Hi!" she said, back to her peppy self. "Sorry about that, I –"

"You BETTER be sorry!" snapped the girl, venom in her voice as she struggled to her feet. "That's the finest Dust mined from the Schnee Quarry! Why don't you - ?"

"Ooh, Dust! Cool!" Nora interrupted, catching the other girl off guard. "That sure is a lot, what kind do you use? Mine comes in these big pink canisters that go Boom! Boom! Boom! It's fun, what kind of weapon do you use? Mine's a big awesome grenade launcher that shoots the canisters, but I can shift into a sledge hammer form that detonates the canisters every time I hit to give it extra range! Ooh! That's my favorite mode, because I can smack the ground and fly up really high and…"

The Schnee girl continued to sputter, not used to being interrupted like that, and certainly not used to someone posing her a question and then continuing to ramble on about herself as if nothing happened. With a huff, she spun on her heel and stalked away, muttering to herself as her father's hired help pushed the trolley behind her. Nora was just getting to the part about how she had managed to find the right shade of pink dust that matcher her everything when she noticed the other girl was already out of earshot.

"Wait!" Nora called, starting after the girl with hands raised in a failed signal for her to return. "What's you name? I need to know so I can put this in my scrapbook!"

No response.

"You! Girl in white! We should hang out, okay?!"

But the Schnee Heiress had already gone, and the body guards trailing behind just gave Nora disapproving shakes of the head. Nora, while persistent, did know when to stop, so with shoulder's slumped, she sat herself down on a nearby bench, watching as more and more people strode by, some chatting with people the just met, others with friends and family they're known for ages.

Nora knew sitting here pouting wouldn't get her to the orientation any quicker; still, she did wish she had come here with someone else. Or had someone she had known long enough to even write letters to.

With a sarcastic exhale, and muttering "Welcome to Beacon" to herself, the orange haired girl rose up and, like she had done all her life, fell in line with the rest of the crowd, one face in a sea of many.

Two seconds later, she was skipping again, back to her usual cheery – yet lonely – self.

* * *

_A/N: I'm back! I only have 2 finals this week so I took some time and wrapped up what I had of Chapter 2 and viola! Here she is, ready for you beautiful readers! For the path of the story, character's will meet each other at a different pace than what is canon (not just within JNPR, as Nora and Weiss have illustrated) but I can assure the teams are the same, the dynamics are all that's changing. Hopefully Team RWBY and CRDL will be featured more in this story, just to blanace things out. As for relationships -_

_Don't wanna give away too much! :D Message me with ideas/questions and don't forget to review!_

_~thehemingwaydilemma_


	3. Chapter 3: Pyrrha

Chapter 3

"You sure we're supposed to go this way?"

"Pyrrha, relax, I'm sure we're going the right way. Can we just follow my lead for once, I mean the sign was clear enough to make out."

Pyrrha sighed, gesturing ahead, defeated, for Jaune to continue meandering around campus. She suppressed a laugh as he dramatically bowed in thanks before marching ahead, flashing a thankful grin from over his shoulder.

While Jaune was something of a goofball and not the sharpest tool in the shed, he did need more chances to try and be more confident. As his friend of ten years Pyrrha did her best to steer him in the right direction, even if it meant letting him do things himself and not always succeeding; if anything he was building confidence, and she was always proud of him nonetheless.

"Hey hey hey, will ya look at that!" Jaune said, turning around and steering Pyrrha towards the edge of the hedges they had been walking along. Pulling Pyrrha to his side and dropping his voice to his best classy/narrator impression, he gestured with both hands at their destination. "There she is, the auditorium… er, meeting place thingy." His eyes dropped as his confident act faltered. "Um, Pyrrha, what's the name of the building again?"

Pyrrha chuckled and ruffled his blonde hair playfully. "It's the Main Hall, smartie," she retorted, waking past him to make her way there. "And thank you for finding it for us."

Jaune smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, well, it's not too hard, just gotta pay attention where you're going and –OOPH!"

Right on cue, Jaune collided with something fast, red, and black that suddenly zoomed in his path. Pyrrha started forward, but Jaune hadn't fallen too hard; he just shook his head and, slightly dizzy, looked at the mass that had knocked him off his feet.

A young girl, probably a couple years younger than herself and Jaune, was on the ground in a pile of rose petals, shaking her head and slightly groaning. "Ugh… what happened?" Pyrrha heard her mumble.

"Oh! Hey, sorry about that," Jaune said immediately, sticking an outstretched hand towards the girl on the ground, ever the chivalrous one. The girl, clad in a red and black corset with matching combat skirt and boots, took the hand as Jaune pulled her up off the ground.

"Hey! Sorry about running into you, hehe, just got a little carried away trying to find my sister! She, ah, left with her friends, and we WERE going to go to the main hall, but I guess it's just me going now…" She spoke almost with a fluster, Pyrrha noticed, and seemed nervous to be around people so much older. Jaune must have sensed it too, because he quickly took over the conversation with a comforting smile.

"Well, hey, if you want, you can go with us, we're headed to the main hall right now! "

"Really? Aw, that'd be great, I wouldn't be a bother, would I?"

"Not at all. The name's Jaune Arc, by the way. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

The red girl snuck a knowing look at Pyrrha, arching an eyebrow. "Do they?"

Pyrrha smirked back. "He wishes, sure doesn't work on me."

"You didn't have to answer that!" Jaune yelped, losing his well-constructed image of suave confidence.

Their new friend let out of soft giggle, covering her mouth with her hand almost daintily. "You two are funny, are you like brother and sister or something?"

The two longtime friends, despite being asked that question – and similar other ones – multiple times, smiled awkwardly at one another. "Well, no, we've been friends for upwards of ten years," Pyrrha replied, tucking a lock of crimson hair behind her ear. "But we're kind of like that, just in, you know, closeness and stuff." She then redirected the attention back to the young girl. "Are you a student? You're younger than most other people I've seen, are you just here with your sister, or did you skip a few years?"

"Oh, no, I'm a student. Ozpin said he liked my skill so he moved me up two years from Signal. I'm Ruby, by the way. Ruby Rose." She then squinted, giving Pyrrha a second look. "… Pyrrha Nikos, right?"

Used to people noticing her, the Spartan athlete nodded. Also used to people noticing her, Jaune rolled his eyes.

"Oh my gosh! You're the four time Minstral Tournament Champion! Oh, I've seen so many cool videos of what you do, you're so GOOD at using your totally awesome spear/sword/rifle!" Ruby turned to Jaune now, visibly ecstatic about meeting someone so famous. "That's SO cool that you're her friend – oh! What kind of weapon do you have? Is it a mace/cannon hyrbrid, or one of those flails with the chain that is also an ammo strip for a rifle? Oh! Or is it another triple function one like Pyrrha's?!"

Jaune swelled his chest up, majestically motioning to the family heirloom that was strapped to one of his belts, resting at his hip. "What I have is –"

Suddenly, Pyrrha slung an arm around the now embarrassed blonde swordsman, taking a hold of his family's sword. "Well, young miss, I'll have you know Jaune has the most AMAZING transformation of all! His sword -"

"Turns into a set of pistols?"

The Amazonian laughed sharply. "No, its shield collapses into a sheath. Pretty sneaky, huh? Doesn't do anything for his weapon, but sure is heck of a lot easier than having to carry either one of those two."

"Pyrrha," Jaune whispered to his devilish companion after leaving their new friend to giggle to herself for a minute, "what was that for, you know I'm trying to build myself up!"

Pyrrha smiled lovingly at Jaune, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, we've been through this, girls do like confidence, but not cockiness, you almost turned your new friend away, and you wouldn't have wanted that, would you?"

Jaune half hung his head, a sure sign he knew when he was wrong. "Well at least you already have a great reputation. I need to build one up everywhere before I get lumped with the losers."

Any teasing remark Pyrrha would have given him dissolved with her friend's admission. She knew Jaune liked putting on a show and did the confident act to "impress the ladies", but she hadn't suspected it was this important to him. Giving the younger girl a sign that they'd be with her in a moment, Pyrrha led Jaune of the path a few feet and turned to face him.

"Jaune, look, I'm sorry if I get carried away with my teasing, and maybe it wasn't the nicest thing for me to do back there. If it really bothers you that much I can stop, okay? Or at least just tell me when it's too much, I want you to know I do it with friendly intent.

Jaune heaved a sigh, slumped forward in his thoughts. "Still, you are right; I don't really belong here, do I? I probably wouldn't have made it into Beacon if not for you."

Pyrrha frowned, hoping he didn't push it any further. Should I tell him…? He does have a right to know that…

She looked at Jaune again. He already didn't believe in himself enough; he didn't need to hear something like that right now. So, instead, Pyrrha Nikos brought him into a hug, earning a confused grunt from Jaune.

"Of course you belong here. You worked just as hard as anyone else, and even if you aren't a star athlete or star student, you've made leaps and bounds from the time I met you up until now. You're my best friend, and I wouldn't want anyone else at my side." Pulling him back, she gave him a warm smile.

"C'mon, Jaune; let's get over to the Hall. We've got a school year to start."


	4. Chapter 4: Ren

Chapter 4:

"…but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

With that, the tall man in green, now identified as Professor Ozpin, walked calmly off stage, his brief speech sending murmurs across the student body. Whispers of the mysterious headmaster's glances and how he seemed to be somewhere else were passed from person to person.

Save two.

Lie Ren, scribbling away into a faded notebook in the corner, sat isolated from everyone else in the room, peaceful amidst the thousands of bodies and countless voices echoing around the room. It didn't bother him that no one was seeking him out, or talking to him; he was comfortable slipping in and out of social spheres without leaving too large a mark, and it was almost natural that he would find himself around those like him.

Glancing up, he made a mental note to eventually ask this girl her name. The bow wearing girl had also come to this corner to read, both tucked away from the louder, less composed students. He had seen her before, on the shuttle in; he had been writing another set of haiku there, and she had been reading not far off. During the turbulent last ten minutes of the airship ride, she had staggered to sit down at his bench, neither one breaking the silence or becoming any less engrossed in their hobbies.

Just before the doors opened and the students began milling out, she bent over and pointed at his most recent work:

_A soft wind echoes_

_Through the valley, with petals_

_Scattered overhead._

"Not bad," she remarked before stepping away. "You might want to try other forms of poems, helps add more variety and such."

Now here they sat, listening together to the room as it shifted from voice to voice, commotion to commotion. In that section, a foursome of tough looking males shook hands and exchanged names; further along, a girl in white waved her arms at a blushing girl clad in pink; and across the room, two blondes and two red heads chatted casually, nodding and laughing together.

Ren closed his eyes, massaging his temples as he tried to quell what anxious blood snuck its way into his veins, already sending flutters into his stomach. _It's okay, you're fine… you're secluded enough to avoid conflict, you've gotten through orientation, you… maybe have a friend? Okay, maybes still count, if anything she'll find someone else to hang out with…_

"Writer's block?"

The boy snapped out of his reverie, casting an eye to his possible companion. He heaved a sigh, hoping she wasn't thinking he was crazy. "Um, yeah, it takes a while to get the ideas flowing," he responded, doing his best to hide the stammer he felt for sure would pop out and ruin the conversation. To drive his point home, he leafed through his notebook, shuffling loose papers to look like he was searching for old writings; he even pushed his glasses further up his nose for good measure.

Finally, he shrugged, returning to his previous page. "I, uh, usually keep a sheet of prompts in here, but I guess I, uh, left it in my other things." Hoping to divert the attention elsewhere, he cleared his through before adding to the conversation. "What about your book? You've been reading it since we got here, what's it about."

Amber eyes flicking back down to the pages, she flipped one, smiling to herself as she ran a thumb over the sweet smelling paper and ink. "It's a story about a man, with two souls that are fighting over his body. One wants to lead him to a happier, peaceful life, but the other soul is of much more… malicious intent, and just wants a host to use for his rampant desires and – HEY!"

Ren's head shot up, not expecting his friend to suddenly yelp like that. Her normally calm demeanor was preplaced with one of anger and disgust, and Ren quickly saw why – the book she had been holding now had pink splatters on the pages, some staining the ink as they widened. Ren followed her eyes up to see who the culprit was.

A girl with short, spunky orange hair, her pink clothing standing out like an eyesore, stood with a hand over her mouth, a half filled glass wet with some pink cocktail in the other hand. She immediately started blubbering out an apology, frantically wringing her hands and trembling.

"I'm so, so sorry, I didn't see where I was going and I really, REALLY didn't mean to trip, I'm just looking for people to talk to! I guess I tripped and now your book is ruined and I'm never going to make any friends and now –"

The girl in black rolled her eyes, holding a hand up for the girl to stop. But she didn't; the girl in pink was lost in her own thoughts, rambling on and on about how sorry she was and how she felt SO bad. "SHUT UP!" black-girl yelled, finally making her book's accidental assailant look up. Other eyes followed, with a few people in the area not expecting the quiet girl to suddenly shout like that.

A slight blush creeping to her cheeks, the bookworm addressed the girl. "Look, I get you're sorry, and I know it was an accident." Looking over the few pages that had been splattered, she sighed. "You didn't ruin it too much… still legible, but this is still one of my favorite books." Eyeing the remorseful girl in pink sternly, she narrowed her eyes. "Just watch where you're going next time, got it?"

The orange haired girl nodded slowly, obviously still apologetic. "I'm sorry," she said again, hand nervously behind her head. "Uh… what's your name? Can we be friends, or something? Like to make up?"

"Blake," Ren's friend said, hoping to return to her book. However, pink girl had other plans.

"Oh, that's a pretty name!" she shouted, visibly brightened and back to her bubbly nature. "I'm Nora! I really like this school, I'm sooooo excited to start here, aren't you? I can't wait to start combat classes, those Grimm won't stand a –"

"ENOUGH!" Blake yelled again, moving her book to avoid the drops of drink spilling from Nora's cup; the girl had gotten too excited, and her hands were moving dangerously fast and must have forgotten the beverage they were holding. She froze as Blake now stood glaring at Nora.

"What's your problem?! I asked you to be more careful and here you are, even messier and more careless than you were before! Don't you listen to what anyone tells you! Why would I want to be friends with someone so wild and careless, you're going to get us all killed out there!

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and fix the damage you've dealt, before I lose it even more." Blake then stalked off, taking only two steps before turning her amber brights on Ren. "You coming, Poet Boy?"

Ren sighed, not really wanting to have to get and move. The girl in pink stood with her head hung low, thoroughly embarrassed and blushing a deep red. He hated to see people like that, but didn't want to jeopardize whatever friendship he might have had with Blake. Standing up slowly, he faced the shorter Nora to try and make her feel better. "Listen, I – oomph!"

Someone accidently bumped him from behind, not enough for him to fall, but enough to make him stagger forward and lose his glasses. "Shit!" he cursed, diving immediately to dive to the floor, keeping his eyes down as he searched for them to no avail. "What the hell…?"

"Here, I caught them before they hit the ground," Nora said, handing him the thick rimmed spectacles as she crouched down at his eye level. "Didn't want them to break becau – " Her eyes widening told him that she had seen past his usual disguise. "Hey… weren't your eye's blue befo –?

Ren snatched his glasses away, already blushing as he shoved them up the bridge of his nose before stalking after a slightly confused yet apathetic looking Blake. The two walked off in silence, both ignoring Nora's calls to differing levels of success.

Ren breathed a sigh of relief, glad he recovered his precious glasses before someone not his most embarrassing feature. Contacts made his eyes itch and water up excessively, so his parents had gone out of their way to find a set of glasses that would make it look like his iris' were a nicely normal shade of cerulean blue.

_If anyone figured out my eyes were pink,_ Ren thought with a shudder, _it would be like elementary school all over again…_

* * *

**_Hey guys,_**

**_Didn't see that update coming so quickly, huh? Well, I really, REALLY wanted to do Ren's chapter because hey, I have a lot ideas for my favorite character and I wanted to flesh those out pretty quickly while I had time. I'm particuarlly glad to see where his relations ship with Nora is going, and exploring how different he and Nora are thanks to not having each other all those years._**

**_Anyways, as far as this story is going, I see many events being slightly canonical, yet following a remarkably different pace. As you can tell, JNPR's different structure has a rather large effect on their interactions with Team RWBY, and many relationship dynamics are going to be different from the show, which won't change who gets partnered with who so much but definitely changes how they interact). _**

**_Also, I think getting this chapter out made me a bit more excited about this series, so while I may only update on a weekly basis or so, I doubt I'll let too much time go on between chapters. I might get a part time job if i'm lucky, which might not affect my writing times, but that's just a precaution to all you readers that I'm not just a lazy college student on break, I'm a responible lazy college student on break :)_**

**_Keep on Writin'!_**

**_thehemingwaydilemma_**


	5. Chapter 5: Jaune

Chapter 5

The search had gone on long enough. Bags had been turned upside down, every room had been checked, and even a desperate call to the airship company had been made to see if it had been lost on the way there. Jaune was desperate; he was in a near panic state, and he didn't know if he was imagining things at this point, but he knew he had one last option before time ran out.

Sadly enough, even the news he had prepared himself for was worse than this horrifying fate.

"You did WHAT!?"

"Jaune, for goodness sakes, you've had those embarrassing pajamas for almost five years now, and even then they were horrifying. Think of this as a step toward a brighter future."

"You could have asked me before you threw my… my jumpsuit… out, and replaced it with, with – that!"

That, as Jaune referred to it, was a perfectly normal set of pajama pants and a loose fitting t-shirt, folded neatly on top of his sleeping bag. Pyrrha stood next to them, giving a rather cross Jaune what he interpreted as a combination of a motherly smile mixed with a stern authoritative glare.

"Jaune, what was so good about that thing anyway? Weren't you embarrassed to wear it?"

"Well," Jaune scratched the back of this head, "yeah… but it was really comfy, and I guess the way it looked didn't matter to me; I mean, the only people who saw it were you and anyone else I had a sleep over with…"

Pyrrha sighed. "But you're seventeen, Jaune, and you'll be sleeping in this huge hall with tons of people. So, in anticipation, I got you these!" She smiled and tossed him them. He fumbled and caught them, giving them another look over. He eyed the dark blue pants suspiciously; while he appreciated Pyrrha picking out a pair with small bunny heads printed up and down the legs, he didn't think they were as soft as his old pair. And while the faded blue shirt bore his family symbol of two yellow arcs, one on top of the other, it wasn't the same.

He sighed, defeated. "Thanks Pyrrha. I guess this is better than nothing – ow!" He rubbed his throbbing arm, holding the bicep Pyrrha decided to punch.

"Oh they're much better than nothing! Heck I had to look through like three stores just for the bottoms!  
She smiled good naturedly, an all but unnecessary sign to Jaune that she felt no anger about his remark.

He smiled back, picking up his things and heading to the bathroom. "Alright Nikos, I take your word for it. I'll be back in a bit, hold us a spot, ok?"

"Sure thing. Oh, and I almost forgot!" She tossed him something else, which he surprisingly caught on the first try. It was a shoddily wrapped parcel, and even though he could tell it was a box it was so horribly wrapped it almost looked crumpled. Jaune grinned; Pyrrha could pin him by his hood to a tree from almost over a mile away, fight three grown men at close range without breaking a sweat, and win tournament after tournament in first place, and yet she couldn't wrap a present if her life depended on it.

Jaune's now extra inflated ego carried him a little taller as he strutted back to his sleeping bag, cheeky grin plastered on his face like a welcome mat to his house of handsome. Unfortunately, seeing he was one of the few boys wearing his shirt and the only one in a five mile radius wearing something as ridiculous as Pyrrha's gift, he earned only a few halfhearted glances and a giggle or two. Jaune didn't let that bother him; he only really needed one person's approval, and even if he didn't get that she'd still keep him afloat.

"Hey ladykiller, nice bunny pants. Mind if I snag you a carrot or something?"

He sighed. Okay, maybe he could use two other ladies approval, even though he expected the other blonde to react like that. "Thanks but no thanks Yang, I think I'm good for the night."

"Oh lighten up Jaune," Yang retorted, tossing her wild mane over one shoulder. "At least you're not as bad as the jerks wrestling over there," here she jabbed a thumb over at two shirtless guys who were obviously trying to get the attention of a black haired girl in a sleeping dress of sorts; she obviously was deep in thought as she scanned pages of her book coldly. "Besides, I wanted to thank you for helping out my little sister this afternoon – she certainly is a handful, and I really needed to catch up to my friends for a minute."

"Eh, no worries, it was cool talking to you and her before Ozpin's speech, Pyrrha can be a bit condescending sometimes."

Yang laughed. "Well, as cool as she is, I can't believe she's letting you walk around wearing those horrible bunny slippers like that; you should be embarrassed wearing those things."

Jaune looked down with a smile, scrunching his toes together in the soft slippers. "Actually, she gave these to me just now. Kind of as compensation for my old PJs."

Yang rolled her eyes, turning to walk back to her sister Ruby. "Well, do what you want, man. We'll be in this neck of the woods if any Beowolves attack you bunny feet; just give a holler."

"Sure thing," Jaune said with a laugh, walking back to where Pyrrha sat brushing her hair. Sitting down on his own sleeping bag, Jaune sighed contentedly, taking in the room around him. Here he was, his first day of his first year at Beacon Academy, after doing so poorly at his old combat school. He had heard so much about this school, and really wanted to go to one of the most elite battle schools in all of Vale. Thanks to Pyrrha's training, which he still needed to this day, and a lot of hard work on his part, he had finally managed to make it past the entrance requirements and earn Headmaster Ozpin's approval.

He sighed; this was in no way going to be easy. Sure he had made it through the first day, and even got off to a great start by making friends with Ruby and Yang, but worry still clawed at his heart. Maybe this is just a fluke; what if I don't make it past initiation?

"Augh! Damn it!"

Pyrrha's cursing brought Jaune back to reality, turning to see his longtime friend grimacing as she tugged at her brush, which was stubbornly tangled in her flowing red hair.

Jaune chuckled, taking an opportunity to poke fun at his usually quick witted partner. "So the champion of Sanctum can wield a sword, rifle, and spear combination weapon while toting around a shield, yet is at a loss when it comes to using a common hairbrush?"

Pyrrha glared at him, still trying to remain composure. "I'd like to see you try managing hair like this, Mister Roll-Out-of-Bed-Blondie."

Jaune wordlessly reached over and, gently twisting and turning, pulled the brush free of Pyrrha's locks. Turning it over in his hands, the blonde eyed the menacing tool of destruction before regarding Pyrrha with his mirthful blues. "I think I can manage it."

Groaning in defeat, Pyrrha scooted so her back was facing her lifelong pal, gesturing to the river of red she had now given up on. "Fine then, give it your best shot."

Taking the brush in one hand and cupping the mass of hair in the other, Jaune ran the brush through the hair, gently enough to avoid pain but firm enough to ensure that any tangles and knots were dealt with. Soon enough, Pyrrha's hair started looking as lush as Yang's, and the Spartan's normally rigid posture relaxed, taunt shoulder's slumping slightly in relief. A few people in the area caught notice, muttering something about the lucky dude and the usual whispers of the "odd couple." Jaune felt himself blushing, but kept at his job. He and Pyrrha had been friends long enough that couple jokes had become the norm for them, but he still got embarrassed whenever he caught people looking and whispering at the two.

If Pyrrha heard these remarks, she didn't show it; she had started contentedly humming, eyes closed in bliss by the time Jaune had stopped, her hair back to its pristine condition, if not better. Jaune quickly set the brush down, kicking off his slippers quickly returning to his own sleeping bag – he even pulled it a good three inches away from Pyrrha's just for good measure.

"Aww, done so soon?" Pyrrha pouted, turning to puppy-dog eye Jaune for more. She had been sitting calmly for a good minute before realizing her scalp no longer tingled in pleasure.

Sliding into his sleeping bag, Jaune shook his head ruefully. "We gotta rest up for tomorrow; no to mention your hair is finally done being brushed." He clenched and unclenched his hand, which almost started getting stiff from handling that brush for so long. "Don't want my sword hand to get all cramped before being flung into a forest."

"Well, goodnight then," Pyrrha managed to get out around a massive yawn she just unleashed. As the lights when out she sleepily crawled over to her friend, ignoring Jaune's worried glances around the room and halfhearted protests as she gave him a lazy, almost-too-long hug before flopping back onto her sleeping bag, eventually worming her way inside the deep blue nylon bag. Soon enough her breathing evened out and her huddled form relaxed, a sign obvious to Jaune that she had already drifted off to sleep.

Jaune lay awake for a bit longer, stewing over the day ahead of him. He tried to remain optimistic about the initiation, but all he could think of was his grueling experiences back in Sanctum and his fear over what lay ahead. _I'm not going to make it, am I?_ he thought to himself, slipping out of consciousness for the time being.


	6. Chapter 6: Nora

Author's Note: Longer Chapter for you guys! A lot coming up, lots of characters crossing paths, lots of developments!

Chapter 6

"Good Morning!"

No one answered, which made sense, since Nora didn't say it to anyone if particular. She just liked to talk, and saying morning to anyone was better than being quiet and boring all the time. She was sitting up in her loudly pink sleeping bag, fully refreshed for the day.

And not just any day. Today, Nora Valkyrie was going to run out into that forest and take down all the Grim she could find. Beowolves, Ursa, maybe even a Deathstalker! She quickly bolted upright, practically leaping out of her pajamas and into her normal clothes as she rolled her bag up and tied the ends together just like she did when she went camping with her dad.

Tiptoeing carefully past the other students, who were all still asleep, Nora stashed her bag quickly in the locker she had snagged the evening before. She really wanted to try out the rocket function, but something told her to wait until she couldn't get in trouble for it. She wanted to use this thingy so that she could sneak in, have her best friend punch in a code, and meet then where ever she wanted to land afterwards.

Her train of thought was derailed at that. _Best friend. _She reached into the heart-shaped hole in her shirt, pulling out a crumpled sheet of paper from her… well, assets. _They're a handy place to keep just about anything!_ Nora reasoned with herself. _Just yesterday I even saw a blonde girl pull her pajamas out from between 'em!_

Pushing thoughts of cleavage-pockets aside, Nora scanned the list she had whipped up just before coming here. She had almost forgotten about it, but remembered thanks to her daydream about lockers.

**Nora's Super Secret Unless Someone Asks About It List of Things to Do At Beacon In My First Year!**

**1.****Get to Beacon**

**2.****Kick Butt**

**3.****Make a Best Friend**

**4.****Kick Butt**

**5.****Keep That Best Friend**

**6.****Get on a cool team**

**7.****Not lose best friend**

**8.****Kick Butt**

**9.****Become friends with People on Cool Team**

**10.****Win**

**11.****Make sure Best Friend actually likes you**

Nora sighed. She had made lists like this for every year she started in school, and only ever complete items #1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and sometimes 10. Numbers 6 and 9 wouldn't come into play until she came to beacon, most battle schools for ages 11 to 16 didn't do teams.

Nora kicked a conveniently placed rock down the hallway. She had friends… she just really wanted a best friend. Which she would get in time; Nora just had to work for it. Slowly sticking a smile back on her face, Nora looked in the mirror she hung on the door of her locker, grinning cheekily at her messy tangled of bed head that stuck everywhere. "Hiya, spunky," she giggled to her lovely orange locks, brandishing her brush and quickly taming her thick yet soft orange mess into her standard style, making soft "nyoom" noises every time she pulled the brush through her hair.

After a moment, Nora heard an angry grumbling from behind her. Spinning around, she expected to come face to face with that Weiss girl, or that mean bow girl from earlier. Instead, she found an empty hallway; no one was in the locker rooms yet.

"Hello?" Nora asked warily, hoping no one was playing a trick on her.

There it was again – a low, angry growl, like a feral cat of some kind. Nora felt her skin prickle, anticipation and fear leaking into her mind as she slowly drew Magnhild from her locker. Shifting the weapon into hammer-form, Nora crept further down the hall, peeping anxiously around a corner for any sign of the intruder.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you! I'm just a little scared and –"

Now the growl was even louder, rumbling with a slight gurgle as if the beast was hungry. Nora gulped – it sounded so close, it could be anywhere. She spun around, knees quaking as she saw that whatever Grimm had made it's way inside must have dodge away from behind her.

"Okay," Nora said shakily, getting more worried now. "I'm setting the hammer down, you just come out now and we can settle this like civilized… things."

Nora could feel her heart pounding as she scanned the entire locker room for whatever it was. It could be a young Beowolf, or an Ursa cub, lost at night and seeking food and shelter. _Maybe the cooks' making breakfast drew them in,_ Nora reasoned, taking a wiff of the warm scent trailing in the air. She smelt sausage and egg, brewing coffee, melting butter, and her personal favorite: buttermilk pancakes. Just the smells made Nora's stomach ache.

On cue, the mystery Grimm growled loud and clear, now angry and probably lurking closer. Nora reached to pick up Magnahild and defend herself, but realized something – those growls sounded really familiar. And just when the stopped, she realized just how hungry she was.

Feeling like a complete idiot, Nora tramped off to the kitchens, hoping no one saw her stalking around the locker room, following her stomach's rumbles.

* * *

It wasn't long before the rest of the students had woken up, and the kitchens began to start serving breakfast to the hunters and huntresses in training. Nora seated herself down, already drowning her poor pancakes in the rich maple syrup. Testing them for max absorbancy, Nora plunged her fork deep into the hot cakes, shoving them deep into her mouth. She sighed contentedly as she felt the sticky syrup drizzle down her face, aware of the stares at her bulging cheeks and glazed eyes. Smiling around her prized food, Nora attempted daintiness by dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her crumpled napkin, chewing the pancakes in her mouth as she did.

"Well, I see that you are rude AND obviously poorly mannered," came a familiar voice dripping with venom. "And don't bother trying to apologize, you'll get pancake and spittle all over my clothes."

Nora nearly gagged in her sudden panic, catching sight of an off center pony tail and white jacket. Swallowing what was left of her breakfast, Nora slowly turned to meet that chilling blue gaze. She tried smiling, but the mean girl's glare didn't falter one bit. Plus, her wrinkled nose told Nora she probably had something stuck in her teeth, or something else that made her look foolish.

"Uh… Good Morning?" Nora tried, hoping to restart their encounter and hopefully become at least casual friends with this girl. "I, uh, I'm sorry about yesterday? Uh, if you want to try again, I'd like to –"

"I wouldn't bother, heiress." Nora whirled around to see that same girl in black, amber eyes scanning the pages of another large tome, her toast ignored for the time being. "I had the same problem with her yesterday, she doesn't seem likely to improve with a second attempt."

Weiss turned her attention to this newcomer to the conversation, while Nora contented herself with sinking lower in her chair and hoping to somehow disappear.

"Well, I see this girl's reputation is more widespread than I thought! She truly is a nuisance, isn't she?"

"And an almost professional slob, if you ask me." The girl hardly looked up from her book, almost absently sharing her thoughts as if she were in a dream of sorts.

"And she just doesn't seem to know when to shut up, have you noticed that?"

"I'm almost certain it's not a matter of when, but how." The bookworm's mouth curled up into an almost-smile, while the heiress chuckled haughtily before extending an arm across the table.

"Weiss Schnee. It's a pleasure." The girl in black, finally putting down the book she was reading, returned the gesture as they shook hands.

"Blake Belladonna. Glad to be acquainted."

"Um, excuse me?"

All three girls looked up to the new voice – a petite red head decked in mostly black was standing nervously with a lunch tray next to a vacant seat beside Blake. "Uh, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is fully and I can't find my sister for some reason."

Blake gestured invitingly. "Go for it. I was saving it for a friend, but he's probably either still asleep or getting more tea."

The new girl smiled, sitting down and pouring syrup all over her pancakes, making Nora perk up. _ Oh! She uses as much syrup as I do! Nora thought to herself. That's cool, we can be friends over syrup and pancakes! I just got to think of something cool to say…_

"So," Weiss interrupted Nora's almost action with a lean toward the girl in red, "what's your name? And you seem a little young to be attending this school, if I'm not mistaken."

Stopping her mid bite into pancake-y goodness, the girl in red smiled good naturedly. "It's okay, I skipped up two years after an encounter with Ozpin. He really liked my combat skills and arranged for me to come here early." She sighed happily. "I've always wanted to be a huntress, it just seems so cool and fun and a great way to help people, and I love weapons and excitement, it's just all so crazy to be here, yeah?!"

Nora smiled – _this girl talks as much as me, too!_ "That sounds really cool! I –" A sudden sharp glare from Weiss and Blake shut Nora up immediately, sending her slumped back in her seat. " - I, um, also like weapons a lot," she managed to get out, feeling the flush of red come to her cheeks.

"My name's Ruby," the girl said happily, despite her previous look of concern for Nora.

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"NORA!"

The cafeteria suddenly got very quiet. No one really expected someone to stand up suddenly, throw their arms to the heavens, and happily shout their name. Nora, frozen in embarrassment, felt all eyes on her. A table of rowdy boys froze mid-tug of a Faunus girl's ear; a burly mustachioed professor paused his story to glance worriedly at the girl in pink; Blake wore an expression of surprise; Weiss's face was in her hand; and Ruby merely stared up wide-eyed and frightened, covered in the milk she had been drinking earlier.

Smiling cheekily, Nora sat down, almost wanting to scream from embarrassment. When the room finally started talking again, Nora sighed. "I'm so, so, SO sorry for that, I didn't mean to make you spill your milk, that must have been so embarrassing! I like milk a lot too and I really didn't want to embarrass you, and –"

"Nora, shut up!" Weiss coldly, wiping the table with a wad of napkins, handing a few clean ones to Ruby to clean her face. "You've done enough already, can't you just be quiet!"

To everyone's surprised, Ruby giggled. "It's okay, Nora, I'm alright. I get a little excited too sometimes, and – Weiss, it's okay, I can get this milk off my face myself!"

Nora didn't want to start any more problems. Blake and Weiss hated her; and she didn't want Ruby to hate her either. Ruby seemed nice, but maybe it was better to try and talk to her without Weiss and Blake around. She tried to eat what was left of her breakfast, but she was too flustered about her poor first impressions on Ruby, Weiss, and Blake to focus on food. _How am I going to meet someone during initiation?_ She thought miserably, realizing now that she hadn't met one person who would want her on her team. Well, maybe Ruby, but she wouldn't REALLY want someone like Nora on her team, could she?

As if on cue, Weiss sat down her fork, her eggs now finished. "Well, that takes care of that. I'm going to head towards the locker room and get out Myrtenaster; maybe do a warm up or two before heading over to initiation." She stood up, dusting her hands as she did. "Would you ladies like to join me?" she casually asked the group. Nora knew better than to say yes; Weiss had already made it clear she did not, and would not, ever consider Nora a lady or friend.

"Oh oh! What kind of weapon is Myrtenaster?" Ruby asked excitedly.

Weiss smiled. "A Multi Action Dust Rapier. I'm classically trained, you know."

"Cooooooooool. I'm coming!" Ruby cheered happily, hopping up to stand next to Weiss. They both turned their attention to Blake, Ruby bouncing up and down a little in anticipation.

Blake finally spoke, closing her book. "I think I'll go with you guys; it's a little too loud in this cafeteria for me to focus on this book."

"Well then," Weiss said as she stamped off, "let's head out." Nora watcher her turn around and start walking, white boots clacking on the hard pale linoleum. She wished she could go with them, maybe show off her baby Magnhild; too bad that war hammer/grenade launcher was probably just as destructive and loud she was.

"Wait, what about you, Nora? Wanna come and share weapons with us?"

Nora's head shot up, hope suddenly back in her heart. Was this is? Ruby was being nice and actually wanting to include her in the activity? This was awesome! Maybe we could be friends! Nora thought excitedly to herself. She was about to leap up and say how much she'd love that when Weiss stepped forward.

"Actually, Ruby, earlier Nora said something about having to be elsewhere after breakfast. She wants to go and meet up with all her friends from her previous school, and it would be rude to keep all of them waiting."

Nora stared open mouthed as Weiss glared smugly at her, knowing all too well that this was far from the case. Why would she do this? I'm trying to be friends with Ruby, can't you let me do that? "Oh, um, it's okay, I –"

"Really, Nora, you don't have to worry about us, we completely understand," Blake joined in, catching on to what Weiss was doing. "I'd want to meet up with all my friends again; it's a been a while…" Nora thought she saw Blake look a little hurt for a moment, but that was erased quickly when the girl in black followed Weiss's footsteps. "Well, ininitiaion starts in little less than an hour, we better get a move on."

"Oh, okay." Ruby waved to Nora, smiling unknowingly. "Have fun, Nora, we'll meet up at the initiation platforms!" And with that, she scampered after her new group of friends, leaving Nora slumped alone at her table, miserable and hurt over Weiss and Blake. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but fought them down bravely, knowing it wouldn't do any good.

Slowly getting up and cleaning the table off, moving in an almost trance-like fashion, Nora walked out of the cafeteria. She'd have to go and wait a good while before she went to fetch her gear; she couldn't show her face in the locker room so soon and confirm her lack of friends to the group. Slumping down on a bench, she rested her head between her knees, hoping she was as invisible as she felt. _ I'm going to be friendless, aren't I? _Nora mused, trying as hard as possible to work up any level of her usual cheery optimism.

She'd have to put that smile back on sometime soon; she couldn't bear to find out who her partner was and come across as a friendless, miserable pink lump.


	7. Chapter 7: Pyrrha

Chapter 7

For being an academy full of new students, the locker rooms weren't as jam-packed as Pyrrha would have thought. In fact, there was enough room for her to properly here Jaune talk (not that he was at the moment) and even practice a few techniques with Milo without hitting anyone. Come to think of it, she and Jaune must have been the only ones in this hallway.

"You would have thought there would be most students," Jaune mused, probably thinking the same thing Pyrrha was.

She smiled, adjusting one of his shoulder pads that had been loosened. "Maybe the staff has multiple locker rooms for different year-levels?"

Jaune shrugged off Pyrrha's hand, reaching over and tightening the straps to his armor himself. "Possibly. Or maybe they have a different schedule."

While a bit disappointed at Jaune's minor rebuff at her help with getting his armor tightened, Pyrrha knew he wasn't upset or anything; he just liked doing things himself. "So," she asked, taking the conversation elsewhere, "any ideas on how initiation will go? You feel prepared?"

Pyrrha's mouth crooked into a small smile as she saw Jaune pause, his eyes widening just long enough for her to know he was scared, and then rub the back of his head nervously. "Um, yeah, yeah, it shouldn't be too different from Sanctum's initiation, correct?"

Pyrrha shook her head, enjoying this maybe a bit too much. "At Sanctum we had a maze to run through; here, it's a little more… difficult."

Jaune gulped. "How so?"

"Rumor has it you get thrown into a pit of Death Stalkers," came a new voice. Jaune and Pyrrha spun around to find Yang Xiao Long leaning against a locker, toying with her large yellow gauntlets with a wicked smile on her face. She smiled and walked over to the duo, shaking her head as she did. "But honestly, I think that was meant to scare gullible students, initiations are never that simple and stupid."

"Uh, yeah, good thing they are," Jaune said nervously.

Yang gave him a coy, knowing smile that practically screamed "You totally believed me for a second" before turning her attention to Pyrrha. "Initiation starts in about twenty minutes. The only actual piece of information I heard worth of note was something about landing strategies." She cocked an eyebrow at Pyrrha, ever present smile brightening. "Any ideas on what that means, Cereal Box?"

"Cereal Box?" Pyrrha asked, confused for a moment.

"You ARE on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes Cereal, arent' you?"

"Thank Dust someone else remembers that!" Jaune exclaimed, gesturing approvingly to Yang. "It's always tournament this, champion that, but no one remembers her face on Marshmellow Flakes!"

"It's a shame really," Yang said, crossing her arm. "That was my favorite flavor too, better than that Blueberry Grain thing they had for a few years."

Jaune shuddered. "Don't remind me, that stuff tasted like chalk and took forever to chew. Good thing she got any Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes she wanted for free; that stuff was the best!"

Pyrrha groaned. "Yeah, they were a sponsor of mine for a few years. I got to eat as much as I – or, in this case, Jaune – wanted. Unfortunately, it isn't very good for you – they still insist on me being on the cover though, which still _is_ pretty cool."

"I'll say," Yang concurred, flipping her mane over one shoulder. "Well, I'm off to find Rubes, see you two at initiation! Best of luck on those landing strategies, by the way." She punched both their arms affectionately before sauntering off further down the hall. Pyrrha turned to Jaune in hopes of asking him if he knew what kind of landing strategy he was planning on using – if he even knew what one was or how to use it – only to find her partner blanked out.

"Jaune? Hello?" Nothing. She waved an eye in front of her friend's face, hoping he hadn't been distracted by Yang in any way. "Jaune!"

"Huh, what? Oh, right, Jaune, me, okay," he babbled almost to himself, turning back into this locker and rummaging around to grab his weapon.

Pyrrha cleared her throat. "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah sure, totally, great, never been better."

She sighed. _"Jaune."_ The name was more than that; in this case, both of them knew Pyrrha didn't believe Jaune's lie one bit, and he needed to speak up. Being with the goofball this long had made him easy to read, his body language being as familiar as her own.

Jaune sighed back, shoulder's slumping. "Yeah, I'm worried about this whole initiation thing. I mean, I don't know how it's going to work, or if I'll make it out alive, or even if I can make it past the whole ordeal, how will I make it at this school? I had you to help me at Sanctum, but I barely learned much! I ended up never competing and just following you around, acting on the sidelines and helping you –"

"Jaune, I'm going to stop you right there."

Jaune looked up at Pyrrha, his face somewhere between confusion and surprise. Pyrrha needed to help him stop this self-defeat before it got out of hand; as much as he'd complain about it and liken him to his mother, she knew pep talks were something the blond needed from time to time.

"Jaune, it may be true that you aren't the best fighter in this academy, and that you have a long ways to go before you're on the same level as everyone here –" she waited as another one of his upset groans interrupted her before continuing "– but in the last year you made more progress than most students in training make in three. You're getting better with every practice session, you've gained a lot of battle strategy – it would be a shame if you didn't see all of the improvements you've made and the skills you've picked up."

Jaune heaved a sigh. "But I'm still not where I want to be."

"No one ever is, Jaune. Everyone needs a nudge in the right direction everyone once in a while; think of the initiation as a great opportunity to practice everything you've learned!"

Pyrrha felt herself smile as Jaune straightened up a little taller, taking a deep breath and nodding. "Okay, Pyrrha… I feel a bit better about this now." He strapped Crocea Mors to his belt, tossing back his blond locks as he motioned to the door. "We should probably head over to the hill, get this over with, you know?"

"Okay, Arc," she said, grabbing a hold of Milo and using her semblance to keep Akku secured to her back. "You're the boss, you make the calls!"

Jaune laughed. "You're kidding, right? You've been Alpha Dog since day one of our friendship!"

"That's cause I was line leader that day, we've been equals after that!"

"So me being your little sidekick for all your tournaments in high school don't count now?"

Pyrrha smiled back at her goofball of a friend and gave him a playful nudge. "Aw, come on Jauney, you'd make a great leader!"

"Yeah, when Death Stalkers fly!"

* * *

**Author's Note: To answer a few questions:**

**1\. Updates are coming soon, i just need to flesh out a few plot details and work out some stuff with Chapter 8 (Ren Meets Nora needs to be done right, after all)**

**2\. Yes, character dynamics are much different, although the title does specifically label this as a JNPR AU - meaning that the teams/partners are the same as canon. **

**3\. Things are looking up for various characters here, it won't be as angsty as Thunder Flowers was (count on a hopefully happier story line). Even so, a couple characters will need a good while to figure themselves out and there might be a few pulls of the heart strings.**

**4\. I know, I know, we haven't seen nearly enough Ren as the others in the last few chapters, but my baby is coming! Your time to shine will come, our little Lotus Boy, your time will come...**

**5\. I love you guys! Thanks for all the reviews and PMs, keep asking and reviewing :)**

**~thd**


	8. Chapter 8: Ren

Chapter 8

Fifteen minutes prior to initiation, a certain calm and collected hunter-to-be drew his weapon and, with well-practiced poise, struck quickly. Dealing five short blows to his target, then seven, and next with another five, the boy ended his barrage with a soft sigh, looking at his handiwork.

_To rush is folly_

_For toil will prosper, yet_

_Peace lasts not as long._

A brief smile quirked the lips of the normally inexpressive boy, before dying there as he closed his ever present notebook. Slipping the pen back into its familiar groove among the pages, Ren rested his head back on the tree he was sitting under, eyes closed in tranquility. He had gotten up much later than everyone else, which he had expected to happen. Even though he preferred to go at his own pace, he admitted to himself that it might have been better had he woken up a little earlier to prepare for initiation. Regardless, his quick breakfast and almost minimalist packing made it easy for him to be one of the first in and out of the locker room, only staying in the near-empty halls so he could give his Storm Flower pistols a quick polish before heading to a tree just outside to meditate – or write, both were fit for relaxation and calming of the mind.

Ren sighed to himself as he stared out across the campus. He quickly picked out Blake among the mobs of people leaving the locker room; from the distance, it looked like she was with another set of girls, chatting specifically with a girl in white as a smaller girl in black and red hopped around. Ren thought he recognized the golden haired girl walking with them, but overlooked that possible coincidence in favor of Blake.

_She said we'd meet for the initiation today,_ Ren grumbled internally. He shrugged, peeved only for a short time; he didn't really expect Blake to meet with him when she had a new gaggle of friends. Besides, if anything, she and him were casual friends, likely to hang out only when their other friends – who Ren would just end up playing to role of social leech to, anyways – were too much for the two introverted intellectuals.

Next came the harder part – think of other people to have on his team once he teamed up with Blake.

"Hiya!"

The high pitched and rather excited exclamation pricked the boy's ears; he could have sworn he heard it before. He glanced up only to find no one was there. That happened often: a lot of greetings Ren thought were directed towards him ended up being for –

"Do you need new glasses? You didn't see me right away, so I didn't know if yours didn't work anymore. I heard glasses don't work if you have them too long. But I think that only works if you're nearsighted. Wait, is that the one where you can only see near or where you need help seeing near?"

The sudden 10 seconds jam-packed with questions almost made Ren fall over, and his heart rate shoot up in surprise. Just when he thought the directionless barrage of questions had surprised him enough, he turned his head just enough to the right to come face to face with someone who hadn't been there a second ago.

She stared intently at him, which was the first thing she noticed. It wasn't the way people used to stare at him, or actually how many people normally stared at anything. While others conveyed a rather stern aura, often laced with criticism or negative energy, this girl's stare didn't seem intruding or bothersome. She seemed genuine about her interest, eager to learn, and excited to take in everything her wide azure pools.

Widening his perspective to see the rest of this talkative girl, Ren made out spunky orange hair, styled short with longer bangs in front. Pink and white predominately garbed this girl from top to bottom, with light black, red, and soft blue interlaced in an oddly designed armored vest around her middle. Ren quickly remembered who this girl sitting next to him was; she had gotten yelled at by Blake over something yesterday, and had accidentally knocked off Ren's glasses. _Hopefully she didn't manage to see my natural eye color,_ Ren thought fearfully, not letting the nervous blush reach his cheeks.

In the few seconds Ren had examined this girl and gotten his bearings, she _still_ had not stopped talking. "So if you're near sighted, and you didn't have your glasses, you probably wouldn't have seen me 'cause I was up close. Like really, really close. Wait, was it too close?" she asked, realizing she probably crossed a boundary and now suddenly sheepish. "I'm so so sorry, I hope I'm not bugging you, you probably have a lot of stuff to do with initit –" The pink girl shot upright, eyes wide as saucers. "OH. MY. GRIMM-SOCKS! INITIATION, I almost forgot!" The girl looked absolutely terrified, panic emanating from her as she clenched her hands to the sides of her mouth. "We have to get over there, it'll start in eleven minutes! Oh no, oh no, not the first day! Well, first day of training, our real first day was yesterday, but that doesn't count, does it?"

It took Ren a second to realize she had asked him a question. She had run off on so many tangents and varying emotional ranges that he had trouble keeping up. But, in the end, he had years of living with amped-up foster parents to handle this situation.

Pushing his glasses up absentmindedly, Ren took a breath. "If anything, yesterday was just arriving to school and resting; so it was our first day at Beacon, but not our first day of actual training."

The girl nodded, still standing, oddly silent. The noiseless break carried on for two seconds before a thought popped into the new girl's mind (_Honestly, how easily readable can one person be?!_ Ren thought to himself.)

"Oh! Oh! I know you! You were that guy who was with Blake when I spilled stuff on her book and you went with her but first you got bumped and I got your glasses for you and you got embarrassed and you ran off and I didn't want you to be mad at me like Blake was!" She had said that with a smile, like she was remembering some fun vacation she had went on over summer.

Ren nodded. "Yeah, that was me."

"I was soooo worried I got Blake angry, I don't think she really likes me now. Well, I mean, I'm sure she could, but I gotta work at that so we can have a super duper ali-ooper time at Beacon with her and my other friends! Oh! She seems to like you, and I want her to like me, so when you guys hang out it would really, really, REALLY, be awesome if you got her not to hate me so much?!"

Ren shrugged. "Sure."

She beamed. "Cool! I'm going to see if I can meet up with Blake and her friends so we can go to initiation! I really want to get on her good side, she –" the girl's rapid-fire mouth and ever present smile paused, and then slowly diminished as she looked down at her feet. "Well, we haven't had the best encounters… but I'm hoping she'll lighten up a little if I show her how good of a friend I am." She kicked a rock, not smiling or looking chipper for the first time since she got there. "And that girl Weiss seems angry at me, and I really don't like it when they're mad at me together. Nothing I do seems to work and I end up being scared to talk to them.

Ren blinked up at her, not sure what to say. People didn't talk to him like this, so naturally all the signs flashing in his head were flashing "Abort! Abort!" in red neon as a small siren went off. But regardless of that mental image, he did feel he should say at least _something_.

"Well," he replied evenly, absently adjusting his glasses, "have you tried listening to what they want?"

She instantly perked up. "Perfect! I'll be super polite and listen to them and what they want in a friend, and I'll do that! Being all over the place and talking all the time made them angry, so I just need to be like them, listen to _them_ talk, so I can be their friends that way! What a great idea! I'll have to go try it out!" And with that, she dashed off, away from the tree and down the hill quicker than time could process.

Once the leaves she had kicked up inadvertently had settled, Ren finally decided to move. He picked up his notebook, tucked it under his arm, and started off to the initiation platforms to –

"Wait I completely forgot, what's you name?"

It was entirely possible that Ren's heart had stopped working in fright as he yelped and flipped onto the ground, not expecting the hyperactive girl to once again appear at his side out of nowhere. Clamping a hand over his eyes the second he realized his glasses had once again come off, cursing his luck for having this girl pop up out of nowhere like this.

"Ren. Call me Ren," he breathed out, gasping past his heaving lungs.

"I'm Nora!" she chirped happily, immediately followed by something plastic – his glasses – fell onto his the back of his palm. "You dropped these again! They seem to want to run away from you. But that's just silly; I mean they're supposed to help you, so you'd think they'd be more loyal to their owner. Or maybe you haven't cleaned them enough and they're trying to go take a bath or…"

As Nora continued her chatter, Ren took the opportunity to slip his glasses on and stand back up. Dusting off his favorite green jacket and making sure StormFlower were secured safely in his sleeves, Ren readjusted his glasses before returning his attention to the girl before him.

"…so the glasses can then help all our kids out!"

Ren sighed. "Nora?"

"Yes Ren?" She looked up at him, open to what he had to say – even so, Ren saw a small spark that was afraid he was going to be just like Blake and shut her down. Fortunately for Nora, Ren wasn't as short tempered, nor did his attention lapse the way others often did.

"Not every person's glasses are the same, you know," he replied, taking the opportunity to correct the girl's silly mistake.

Nora's eyes darted back and forth momentarily. "…That's even better! They try and help _anyone_ out because they're so nice!"

_Well, she sure is a quick thinker,_ Ren mused, almost relieved the girl wasn't one 100% an airhead of sorts. But she was going to make them both late for initiation if she didn't stop talking.

"… so I was thinking that the glasses give birth to little contact lenses before they grow up into their normal glasses modes, kind of like how pollywogs become –"

"Hey, Nora," Ren interrupted, tapping her on the forehead, "as much as I hate interrupting your theories on glasses and their lifespan, we're going to be late for initiation soon."

Nora gasped. "You're right! We're gonna miss the per-initiation chance to talk to Blake, Weiss, and Ruby and make them my new friends! Come _on_, we gotta hurry!"

"You go ahead, it's a rule of mine not to run any – oomph!"

Nora exercised her right of not listening to other people and ran off, which might be okay except that she had grabbed Ren's arm and was pulling him along with her. Everything zoomed by lightning fast, Ren's legs practically flying out past him as he tried to keep up with this whirlwind of a girl.

_I can't_ wait _until I get my own team_, Ren thought glumly to himself. Despite his regret of meeting such a hyperactive lunatic, and regardless of his growing desire to just be left alone again, Lie Ren had, whether he knew it or not, just held one of the longest, and more meaningful, conversations with someone in years.


	9. Chapter 9: Ozpin

_A/N: This of this as a mini-chapter or filler-episode of sorts; I'll insert smaller chapters when I need to properly transition from one cycle of chapters to another, kind of as a way to drive the plot along a little. In this case, setting the initiation cycle in motion. As the story progresses, I'm hoping to make the chapters a little longer and more complex, as I feel we've officially left the introductory get-to-know-who-we're-dealing-with section. As you can tell with this chapter, and the next few to follow in particular, I will also start to include other points of view into the storyline; however, I can guarantee that since this is a JNPR-based AU, our focus will still be riveted on our favorite gender-bent inspired dorks and the changes their switched backgrounds bring to the table._

_So, without further Ado, Chapter 9: Ozpin!_

Chapter 9: Ozpin

The Headmaster took another sip of his freshly brewed coffee, taking in the students standing before him on their platforms, ready to be thrown into the forest to make alliances with other students, gather old chess pieces, defend themselves from the variety of Grimm he had shipped in, and make it back to the top of the hill in one piece.

Honestly he thought the whole ordeal was rather trivial in many ways.

Regardless, he was the headmaster, and had deemed this puerile initiation/orientation to be the more successful methods of making sure his hand-picked students were up for life at his academy. So, with a nod to his second in command and former partner Glynda, he began his endless routine of addressing his new recruits.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." He glanced at Glynda as she added her bit to his speech.

"Now," the blonde professor stated, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... **today**."

Ozpin carried on. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Ozpin always liked to pause for a few seconds at this part and take in the students reactions. He noticed Ruby Rose, who he was particularly interested in, paled a little more, looking to the girls at her left and right hopefully. Further down the line, Pyrrha Nikos flashed a smirk in Jaune Arc's direction; the blond, as Ozpin noticed, smiled back absently before adjusting his stance and returning his attention to the platforms he was standing on. If Ozpin was correct, Mr. Arc was now realizing what the rumors of a "landing strategy" meant.

Other students reacted much differently: Nora Valkyrie, for one, looked completely aghast and looked hopefully to the girls on her left and right; Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna, instead turned away from her; Cardin Winchester Nodded approvingly to Russel Thrush, while the smaller youth lightly punched his friend's shoulder; Ozpin took particular note of Velvet Scarletina, who looked like she would faint if not for a reassuring hand from her more imposing Oriental friend; and lastly, a small glance between Blake Belladona and the equally withdrawn Lie Ren sparked some interest in Ozpin, but he didn't think too much on the occurrence.

Gesturing over the hills, Ozpin resumed his dialogue. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you **will** die." Taking a sip from his mug, the weary headmaster suppressed a smile at the looks of jubilation on Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie's faces. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

No one spoke.

"Good! Now, take your positions."

One by one, the platforms gave a whirring sound and, once the inner mechanics had wound themselves tight, sprung forward. Student after student was sent flying into the forest below, many whooping in excitement or yelping in surprise. The bespectacled professor returned his gaze to a few familiar faces, while Glynda preferred to stare out at the students who had already taken to the air. A few conversations stood out to the headmaster in particular.

"So, remind me how not to die?"

"Jaune, you're gonna be fine. Just keep your stance wide, brace yourself, and slash at anything that gets in your way!"

"How about landing, huh? I don't want to be impaled by a tree!"

"In that case," Miss Xiao long said supportively, "you better get that shield open. It could work as a surfboard of sorts."

"That's actually a pretty good idea."

"Thanks Pyrrha. If you use it, just remember to," here she stuck on a pair of yellow rimmed aviators, "_Yang on tight!"_

An audible groan went up among a few students, Ruby Rose's in particular turning into a shriek as she was send hurtling into the sea of green leaves below.

"So, Blake, we should totally use a secret signal of some kind! To make sure we meet up and get on a super cool team! I can imitate a sloth, wanna see? I can teach it to you and –"

"Actually, Nora, you just stay where you land, I'll find you eventually."

"Okay! See ya!" The girl, oblivious to the wry glance between Ms. Belladonna and Ms. Schnee, whooped as she was sent into the air after the green flash Ozpin briefly registered as Mr. Lie Ren. _I wonder how his uncle is doing after all these years… _Ozpin mentally jotted down that it was due time to visit the old master of Aura manipulation once the school year ended.

More and more students flew off, until the entire group was flying in high arcs over the forest. Just when they were merely black specks against the clouds, Ozpin turned to face Glynda.

"Any predictions thus far?" he quieried.

Still in her mode of icy professionalism, Glynda Goodwitch kept her gaze on the scroll in her hands. "To be honest, I don't know why you selected that Arc boy. Even someone as egotistical as Mister Winchester I can understand, but I'm almost positive that you'll be without a certain blonde by the end of the initiation." She finally returned his stare, eyes beyond mirthful. "To think that a champion like Miss Nikos wastes her time with that boy is beyond me. She deserves better."

"Oh really? I don't recall you saying that when Port offered to help you improve your ferocity all those years ago."

"Horse-feathers, your old partner was far from the esteemed warrior Pyrrha Nikos is. If anything, Peter merely gave me a mere suggestion or two on Grimm Anatomy, I handled everything else rather well."

Opzin smirked. "I suppose. In any case, we have students to monitor," he stated as he pulled out his own scroll. "They should be landing any moment now, and I'd like to know my students made it down in once piece."

"Of course, Sir."

And with that, the monitor's came to life, soon to be filled with students on the run, proving their aptitude and meeting the one person they would have to rely on for the toughest four years of their life.


	10. Chapter 10: Ruby

_A/N: This next cycle of chapters details the initiation in its entirety. Partners will be made, Grimm will be fought, and, as you can tell, everyone will get a shot at being POV. One for each character, and then two chapters to tie it together, show them get the end of the hill, and lastly, TEAMS. From there on out, it'll be somewhat slice of life with key events popping up and the occasional action sequences. Enjoy!_

Chapter 10: Ruby

The young huntress fluttered her eyes open just as she started her descent, flattening herself ever so slightly so she would slow down enough to gain her bearings. Reaching behind her as the pit of excitement in her stomach blossomed, Ruby pulled her sweetheart Crescent Rose off of its usual place behind her back, keeping it in it's compact sniper form. Using all her strength to hold onto her weapon without letting the rushing wind snatch it from her hand, the young girl positioned the rifle in front of her so that she could take out any obstacles in her way. Falling at this angle so it was almost as if she was flying into the forest from the side was risky business, and she couldn't risk letting anything get in her way.

Green almost instantly filled her vision, her teeth gritting in anticipation. She shot three quick blasts, each on hitting the tree tops in her way so she could continue soaring until she found the right moment to land. She had a plan already, but it required being deeper into the trees so she could let Crescent Rose open safely into her scythe format.

As if on cue, and opening appeared in one of the nearby cedars she was passing. Expertly swirling and unlatching the proper mechanisms, Ruby gracefully hooked the blade of her scythe around the thick branch, flipping herself over once, then twice, before unhooking herself and landing deftly on the forest floor below her.

"Yang!" she shouted, dashing into the rather empty forest below. She hadn't seen anyone else during her landing maneuvers, and her first priority was getting partnered up with her sister. Sure, she had met a lot of people during her first day at beacon, many of whom she felt strongly about, but being Yang's partner was a number one guarantee that the two would be on the same team; she was opening up to the idea of a different partner, but not having Yang on her team would be horrible.

_Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang_… Ruby repeated this over and over as she kept hurtling through the woods, scanning for that mane of blonde tangles. _Well, if I can't find Yang, at least I'm not _completely_ optionless, _Ruby remarked to herself. _There's Jaune. He's a nice kind of guy, funny too… but he didn't seem like he's that skilled at fighting. Plus,_ Ruby thought smiling, _I don't think Pyrrha would be happy if I took her best friend away like that._ So those two weren't going to be options anytime soon.

_There's also Blake! She was pretty nice, and she so cool! Well, she is also rather quiet; on second thought, she doesn't seem to be that keen on conversation. Weiss seemed nice enough, how about her? She's got a super cool weapon, and she also wears combat skirts… She's a little arrogant, but at least she's not too mean about it. _

_I feel like I'm missing someone,_ Ruby thought, slowing down and now strolling in the forest. _I'm positive I've met at least one other person here_ – "Whoa!"

"Hey, what where you're – oh! It's you."

"Hi Weiss! I almost didn't see you there! Hope I didn't startle you or anything!"

The heiress dusted herself off. "It's alright, Ruby. I thought you were… someone else."

The two stood there, a short awkward silence splitting the two halves of their conversation. "So… I guess we're partners, then? For four whole years?"

Weiss nodded slowly. "Well, that is what Headmaster Opzin said, right?" She motioned sharply before starting on her way. "Come on, we need to get a move on if we're going to get those relics and get out of here."

"Right!" Ruby replied with gusto, dashing after her new partner. The forest laid out ahead of them, green and brown melding together, light playing patterns on the forest floor.

"So, Weiss," Ruby asked after a few seconds of silence, "any idea where these relics are? Or what they look like? He wasn't too specific about that."

Weiss, face scrunched in concentration, almost didn't seem to hear her recently acquired partner. Instead, she was busy walking forward, eyes glued straight ahead, and an intensely determined look in her light blue eyes. Oddly enough, she didn't seem to be focused on anything; she was just, well… needlessly resolute.

"Uh, Weiss? Partner?" Nothing. "Vale to Weiss, come in Weiss. Paging Doctor Weiss? Weiss Weiss, bo Biess, ba-na-na-na-na fo –"

"I get it Ruby, you're there."

"Oh." Well, at least she didn't get a deaf partner; still, this girl was different than the one Ruby had grown familiar with over the course of the morning. "… are you okay? You seem a bit on edge."

"Ruby," Weiss responded, still not pausing in her march forward, "I'm doing everything in my power to try and get us out of this forest, and I can't have any distractions if I'm going to find my way to the temple."

This side of Weiss didn't come out earlier during breakfast and the lunch room; Ruby noticed she wasn't all too cheery and was more aloof than engaging, but this seemed more obtuse than the scythe-wielder might have guessed. "Weiss, it's okay, we're gonna find the relics, you can also enjoy the forest while we walk around."

"We didn't come here to "walk around" or enjoy the scenery, Ruby, we're here to get in and get out, deal with Grimm, and do that better and faster than the other students in here. Right?"

"Uh, yeah, but – "

"But what?" The duo had finally come to a stop, just below a large sycamore.

_Maybe Jaune wouldn't be such a bad idea after all._ "I just don't see why we need to march our way through like angry soldiers, is all. I mean, geez, it's been ages since I've been in a forest, and never one this big." The happy-go-lucky prodigy shook herself happily. "Just have fun, okay?"

Weiss's current expression, if used in a dictionary setting, would most definitely not be a good reference for the word "fun". One might even say it would go well in the thesaurus. Under "fun". As an antonym. Or maybe as a synonym for "party pooper".

After a good moment, Weiss sniffed indignantly. "Whatever," she retorted, spinning on her heel. "Let's just keep moving, maybe we'll find some interesting leaves along the way, or some kind of animal that won't try to kill us. So long as that bumpkin Nora Valkyrie doesn't destroy half this forest making a fool out of herself."

Something clicked in Ruby's mind. "Nora! That was the girl from this morning, with the pink? I almost forgot about her!"

"Then I'm sorry for jogging your memory, it would have been better if you had neglected to recall her horrible behavior."

Silver eyes widened, shocked. "What do you mean, she seemed pretty nice! I mean I didn't get to talk to her too much before she left, but – "

"And it was a good thing she did, she's a klutz and a dolt and I would rather she didn't try and bother our little group so much."

"Bother?" Ruby asked, surprised. "I don't think she would have bothered us, why do you say that?"

Weiss finally stopped making her way through the forest. She faced Ruby now, hand regally on the grip of her rapier, eyeing Ruby sternly. "Listen, we already started off on the wrong hook; she nearly destroyed my collection of Dust with her careless behavior. On top of that, she's loud mouthed, thick skulled, and has no regard the conventions of polite conversation, let alone anything below a monologue."

The shorter, younger redhead/brunette shook her head slightly. "Are we talking about the same Nora? The one at breakfast seemed a little shakier and unsure of herself, and nice enough to me."

Weiss shook her head. "Blake had a similar run in yesterday, Nora interrupted a conversation and spilt her drink on Blake's favorite book, then she wouldn't leave her alone and ended up spilling more everywhere, causing Blake and… whoever that guy was, to leave.

"Honestly, Ruby, I don't want anything to do with that girl. She's such a hazard, trust me on this. I think you're better off with Blake and I, I think we take this huntress business much, MUCH more seriously than most others here."

Ruby sighed; she did like Weiss, even if the older heiress was a bit more strict, but Ruby had really thought Nora wasn't half bad. She seemed like a fun girl; energetic, liked to talk, had a thing for sweets; _almost like me,_ Ruby realized sullenly. The young huntress felt a rush of – she didn't even know. Hurt? Empathy for Nora? Uselessness?

"Weiss, I –"

"Shh!" Weiss abruptly raised an arm, cutting off any remarks Ruby was about to make. Her cold blue eyes darted back and forth over the brush. Ruby wanted to say more, but kept quiet. By the light footsteps and wary glances, it was obvious she had detected something. Something big, by the looks of it.

"What is it? Do you see any Grim? Or people?" Ruby whispered, maybe a bit too loudly for Weiss's tastes. It apparently was, as the heiress turned her ice cold glare in Ruby's direction, hushing her with a wave of the hand.

"Ruby, I said 'Shh'! And yes, we've got company." This time, she beckoned to her partner to come stand behind the large shrub she had made her way over to.

Ruby complied, tip toeing around branches and clutter on the ground as she quickly came by Weiss's side. The distance was too small and her semblance not developed enough for her to zip over in half a second without causing a ruckus or avalanche; with Weiss being in the mood she was, the younger huntress knew better than to risk their precarious friendship with any Nora-like antics. Peeking over the top of the hedges, Ruby gasped softly.

There, pawing the ground angrily and growling deep in the back of their throats, was nearly a dozen Beowolves.

Ruby grinned. Showtime, she thought to herself, drawing out her precious baby and loading in a new clip of ammo as her partner said something about timing, and tactics, and dying. Ruby didn't catch it; when there were butts to be kicked, only Ruby's sweetheart did the talking.


	11. Chapter 11: Yang

Chapter 11: Yang

"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Normally, when one was hurtling through the air through rows and rows of trees, one wouldn't be smiling and laughing giddily to themselves the whole way through.

Then again, "normal" had never been a good way to describe Yang Xiao Long.

The blonde was, as the moment, making her rapid descent into the forest, blasting away at branches and leaping to lower and lower boughs as she did. Her leather boots cushioned her feet as she kicked herself from tree to tree, handfuls of bark splintering under the force. Finally, with one last flip, she righted herself and sprinted off into the forest, muttering "Nailed it!" encouragingly under her breath.

_Now,_ Yang thought, _to find Ruby_. While she had encouraged Ruby to go out and meet people, Yang did want to make sure her sister was doing alright, and wouldn't mind it if her younger sister ended up being her partner. And as she had seen, Ruby was making a lot of progress with new people, already making fast friends with Jaune and Pyrrha, then with those two monochrome girls.

Yang slowed to a jog, admiring the undergrowth as she continued slowing until she was down to a casual stroll. The bruiser had always enjoyed forests; she used to take Ruby on hikes a lot when they were younger, and while Ruby was off pretending to be a swashbuckling hero as she tore through the trees like a madwoman, Yang had grown to appreciate the more tranquil elements of the forest; sunlight fracturing through the leaves, the rustling of trees and grass in the wind, the animals –

An unnatural scrapping sound, metallic and seamless, stopped Yang's reverie as her ears perked, aura flickering as she sensed something was off. Giving her Ember Celica a flick and standing stock still, Yang caught moment out of the corner of her eye. The girl's lilac eyes widened as she noticed an angular head rising out of the grass behind her, all black with white enamel coverings.

_King Tajitu._

Moving quickly, the blonde brawler leapt sideways the second the serpentine head twitched, landing to safely as the snakes head missed her and struck the ground, loam and grass exploding around her in a dizzying fray. Yang chuckled, not betraying the fear in her voice as she addressed side one of the feared viper grimm.

"Hey there, snakey! You, uh, haven't seen a, little red-head girl around here have you? Quick, cheery, carries a scythe?"

The cold red eyes betrayed nothing, tongue flickering in and out of it's mouth as the black end of the feared King Tajitu reared back, swaying back and forth to strike.

"Well, okay… how about a scrawny knight-looking guy? Hair like mine, likes bunny slippers, cute but in a sad puppy way?"

As if in response, the black head hissed threateningly, and Yang knew she wasn't getting any information out of her recently acquainted foe. _Whey couldn't I run into an Ursa or even a Boarbatusk?_ Yang complained to herself, cocking back her weapons. _Wouldn't that be so much easier than this massive lightning-fast monster snake?_

Yang summersaulted out of the way as the serpent struck once more, it's angry hiss muffled by the ground shaking under its weight. Yang used the creature's slight hesitation to launch a few Dust-powered punches to ty and stun the beast, and hopefully take out one of its eyes. She didn't anticipate the creature's durability, however, and succeeded only in irritating the beast more. Before the other head decided to join in on the action, Yang vaulted over the creature's head as it turned to glare at her again, landing on the other side and running along the length of its neck.

The serpent, hissing irritably, followed in pursuit of the blonde, its coils twining around to try and cut off Yang's escape. Yang kept at her escape until she started reaching the middle of the beast and, channeling her aura into one fist, whirled around and dealt a mighty upper cut to the lower jaw of her adversary.

Flailing up, the Tajitu let out a pain filled hiss, opening up just enough for Yang to try and bruise the snake's sides before going in for another shot. This time she connected dead on with the hinge of the jaw, and she felt something budge under her hand. She grinned as the snake struck the ground, still very much alive but with half its mouth drooping like a boxer who didn't know when to quit.

Yang, out of breath and already feeling her aura slip, hunched over and prepared to barrel into the creature head on; however, the ivory white twin head of the rear end, tongue flickering out threateningly in an almost mocking manner, changed her plans significantly.

Until a wild flying bladed pistol shot past, end over end, pinning the tongue to the creatures snout.

An inhumane scream ripped through the forest at that moment, doubling in intensity as the snake made the mistake of opening its mouth and effectively ripping its own tongue in half. Maroon blood splattered out sickeningly, coating the grass in scarlet as yang whirled around to see who had interfered

Standing amid the chaos, a good three yards from the snakes, stood a girl in a black and white outfit, an amalgamation of a pseudo tuxedo and a vest with faded purple/black stockings. Yellow slanted eyes glanced out passively under long tresses of black hair, with a perky bow of the same shade perched atop her head. As she looked at Yang, she flicked her wrist, the ribbon around her arm drawing back the weapon she had used in the fight. She's one of the girls we were hanging out with today, Blair or Blake something like that, Yang thought before her senses returned and she returned to the action.

Yang knocked aside the white head as it blindly launched itself towards her, bringing her elbow down with a satisfying crunch. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her new partner use her katana and cleaver in tandem to fend of the black head of the King Tajitu, blades whirling end over end to create small but deep cuts all over the face of the beast.

Yang continued to smack fist after fist into the face of the monstrous Grimm snake, punch after punch connecting with the fearsome snout as Yang felt her checks grow hot and her eyes growing red –

"Ease up, they're done." Yang paused mid swing, the cool voice behind her and the soft hand at her shoulder catching her off guard. True to the brunette's word both ends were slinking off into the forest, their slithering creating a rustling in the grass as their agile forms slid deeper into the undergrowth.

"But, but I was just getting to the good part!"

"Even so, they weren't taking enough damage for us to expend our energy on the snake; too large of a beast for us two to deal with, even if it's learned enough to not want to mess with us."

Yang groaned, rolling her head back and deactivating her gauntlets at the same time. "Ugh, fine," she fake pouted, strutting after her recently acquired partner. "I suppose we need to get to the temple now, huh? Find those relics and make it to the mountain top before our time runs out?"

Blake nodded, adjusting the ribbon around her forearm absently. Her angular golden eyes glanced over at Yang, scrutinizing the blonde as she walked, but not necessarily in a cold or rude way. A weaker soul might waver under the glare; Yang merely cocked an eyebrow up and stared back, curious about this girl.

Finally the silence was broken. "I didn't really expect to meet you today, you know."

Yang grinned back. "Same here. I take it you were going to try and meet up with your boyfriend, right?"

The feisty brawler's heart sank a little as Blake didn't seem to be phased by the rather bold statement. Instead, she blinked slowly, as if lost. "Who do you mean? Ren?"

"Is that the guy with glasses and the notebook that you were hanging out with yesterday?"

"Yes, with the green jacket and black hair with a pony tail."

"Yeah, him! He's not your boyfriend?"

Blake shook her head. "We met on the ride over her; he's tolerable company to say the least."

"Do you _want_ him to be your boyfriend?" Yang teased, poking Blake – who, to Yang's frustration, wasn't even ticklish – in the side.

Blake idly pushed her hands away, returning her gaze to the forest ahead. "Not of interest."

Yang mock frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're no fun" she retorted, tossing her hair and turning up her nose. She peeped an eye open and, to her surprise and veiled relief, caught Blake smirking at her happily.

"Good," she replied, also crossing her arms and rolling her eyes playfully. "I guess you'll have to be fun for the both of us."


	12. Chapter 12: Jaune

Chapter 12: Jaune

_Oh Dust Oh Dust Oh Dust…_

Regardless of Pyrrha's help in explaining landing strategies, her continuous advice and suggest on how not to die, and even her assurance that she'd try and pin him to a tree if she could, Jaune nevertheless felt scared to his stomach about flying through the forest at probably 100 miles per hour.

_Okay Jaune, just keep calm and don't flail around, you're doing great._ And he was – better than he expected anyways. Instead of tumbling head over heels, the Arc heir was flying straight forward, shield in front of him to cut back on the harsh wind, sword tight in the grip of his hand despite how much it wanted to fly from his hands.

His stance and will still weren't stopping his eyes from watering like crazy, or his hearing from being filled with nothing but the continuous roar of air zooming past him at breakneck speeds. As gravity pulled him lower and lower into the foliage, He barely had time to react to everything going around him, his sword swung blindly at everything as his fall started to descend with the help of gravity.

"Augh, treetops! Augh, birdie! Wait, Grimm birdie or normal? AUGH, doesn't matter! Oh no, oh no, oh sweet fancy pants, ooph - !" He had just enough time (and hand-eye coordination) to at least partially block the leafy canopy of a nearby oak, which quickly became the least of his worries.

Jaune's sword, which he had held straight in front of him after his last exchange with the treetops, was now imbedded in the truck of an enormous oak. His grip tightened as quickly as his stomach did, eyes widening as he glanced down – idiotic move on his part, really – and saw no branches below him. He immediately pressed himself close to the tree's trunk, feet scrambling in panicked circles for a foothold against the flat, seamless bark. His heart finally caught up with what was going around, it's beat drilling in his ears as his nervous breaths hastened to draw in that precious O2 to his lungs. It was times like this that Jaune was endlessly thankful that his ancestral sword had been forged of the strongest steel-meteorite ore of it's ages, and had been guaranteed to not break or bend.

It was times like this that Jaune was also thankful for his bladder's iron will; no embarrassing leaks for this nervous wreck.

He took a deep breath, willing himself to ease his nerves. Okay Jaune, you're stuck here, but you're alive… hopefully longer than just this. I know looking down was freaky as all hell, but maybe you can look for a foothold of some sort… aaaaah, bad idea! Bad idea! At least you now know there's nothing to save you now and you can just stay here until everyone else graduates –"

"Excuse me, sir, but I'm sure I count as something to save you, don't I?"

Jaune swung his head around sharply, picking up the voice of Pyrrha Nikos before catching sight of her coming to a stop just behind him, arms crossed over her chest with a smirk twisting her mouth confidently. "I've done it in the past, I'll do it again if I have to."

"Pyrrha! Thank Dust you're here! Can you think of any way to get down from here?!"

"First of all: Did you see anyone else before I came along?"

"Pyrrha, now's not really the time for –" Jaune was cut off, ending his thought on a yelp as Milo's spear end dug deep into the tree next to his face.

"Did you?!"

"N-no! I just landed like half a minute ago, and you'd think I'd want to look down at a place like this."

Pyrrha's head rolled back in disgust. "Ugh, so I'm stuck with you? Bumbling Arc who can't fight worth his life?"

Jaune shrugged, not being one to be shown up in relief hiding. "Could be worse; think how I feel. I was hoping to partner up with Yang, she'd be easier to look at for four years."

Pyrrha straightened up. "Jaune…"

"It's good to see you, too."

Jaune smiled down at his friend, who grinned back happily. Even if they jabbed at each other like irritated siblings, the fast friends were loath to separate and be partnered with anyone else, Jaune especially. He had come to rely one Pyrrha, who knew him better than he knew himself, for not just help but confidence and social support as he continued to branch out and attempt being better as a hunter.

But back in the present, he was hanging from his sword for dear life, and his best friend was still goofily smiling up at him while she let her talent and knowledge just sit there idly.

"Uh, a little help?" He wobbled the sword for effect, a few leaves falling and wood croaking as the sword widened the gap a fraction more.

"Oh! Right, I'm sorry! Just hang in there, okay?" she called up, scrambling around the tree to think of ways down.

"Was that a pun?" he shouted down in response, tempted to gesture at his position to articulate the point.

"No! Just… just wait, I'm trying to think of ideas!" Pyrrha stamped at the ground, frustration outlining her frame easily to Jaune. Her emerald irises flashed as her head rose to focus on her new official partner. "Hey Jaune, can you throw Milo to me?"

Jaune, for his worth, didn't want to budge. But he'd try if he could. Fortunately the girl had, in her frustration, thrown her weapon so it was close enough to potentially piece his ear. However, her strength was great enough to imbed the javelin into the tree, leaving Jaune to try and heave it out while already in a precarious predicament.

Gripping his sword's hilt with his left hand all the tighter, Jaune shifted so that he could grab hold of Milo. He tugged, not creating much of a difference, and tugged again. Soon he was full on pulling with everything he had, and the only progress to show for it was moving the spearhead back less than half an inch.

"Sometime today might be nice!" came the snarky critique of a certain nosy red head.

"Hey, I don't see you doing anything to help!" Jaune heaved a grunt in frustration, before eyeing the spear again. The head was still submerged in the wood rather deep, but the rest of its length was still exposed, even the now elongated rifle end. The gears in Jaune's mind started turning, clicking ideas into place as he recalled Pyrrha using the recoil of its blasts to launch the javelin nearly twice the length she might accomplish naturally.

Jaune reached over again, but this time tentatively looped his finger around the trigger. _I wonder…_ He braced himself against the side of the tree and his own sword before giving the trigger an experimental pull.

_Blam!_ As Jaune yanked his finger back just in the nick of time, the javelin shot forward faster than he could blink, imbedding itself deeper in the trunk, splintering the wood with a sickening crunch. The shockwave sent ripples up his left arm, numbing his hand in the process.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha screamed out; Jaune ignored her, now gripping the shaft and jamming it around in circles, widening the gap in the tree until he unearthed Milo entirely.

"Hey Pyr!" he shouted triumphantly, holding her weapon over his head to the best of his ability, flashing down a pained smile. "Heads up!" he called down, throwing the spear down so it would land about a foot away from her. He immediately latched back onto the hilt of his sword, feeling the tree shake slightly from having Milo removed from the depths of the trunk.

"Okay, Jaune, now the tree isn't going to be stable enough to hold you!" Pyrrha shouted, a bit for franticness on the edge of her voice. "Try and channel your aura into your legs, then fall down and bounce of my shield, okay?"

"Aura? I'm still working on controlling that, you know!" The portion of the trunk that had been affected by the freeing of Milo heaved a rickety groan, the wood shuddering around Crocea Mors.

"Just do everything you can, okay?" She was squatting down now, holding Akouo just between stomach and chest level. "Just try and channel enough to break your fall, I'll brace you to the best of my ability!"

"Okay! Here goes nothing!" Jaune concentrated on unearthing his aura, something he was still not well versed in. It had been only a year since Pyrrha had unlocked it for him, so his experience with the energy field was limited compared to others.

Finally, he felt that familiar tendril of power, deep within himself. He drew upon it, feeling something akin to relief as his joints eased and his body began glowing with a soft white light. He pushed to move this sensation down to his legs, rewarded by a tingling strength in his thighs that gradually spread all the day down to his ankles.

Jaune took a deep breath and let go.

He immediately felt his stomach jam into his throat, bile burning its familiar taste on the roof of his mouth. He stayed upright in a pencil dive, relaxing his aura-embedded legs and keeping his knees loose to absorb the impact of the shield. He looked down for a moment, seeing himself just above where Pyrrha was holding her shield and then –

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" He was sailing upwards again, Crocea Mors knocked from his hand as he rocketed back up skywards, surpassing the height of the tree he had just come down from.

"What the heck, Jaune?!" Pyrrha called up unhelpfully. Jaune, panic mode fully activated, was flailing his arms and dreading what would happen when he started to descend. Thankfully one of the nearby trees wasn't as devoid of branches as his last refuge was. Trying to move the arc of his fall just enough to reach the branches in time. _There!_ A solid looking one, just an inch thicker than the hilt of Crocea Mors, was in this grasp, and his fingers slid quickly around it, holding on for dear life.

"I got it! Just got to get to that next one and –" Jaune would have finished his sentence, but gravity and momentum instead decided to have him act out his next thought.

His weight combined with the force of his fall swung him too far out, effectively snapping the branch clean through. Jaune didn't even want to fight the fall at this point; he was already tired from the launch, his time in the tree, dropping out of the tree, and now this.

Gracefully slamming gut first into the thick bough below him, all the air was driven out of his lungs as he crumpled into a ball of hurt. Comically sliding off the branch with a moan of pain, Jaune just closed his eyes as he waited for the bone breaking impact of the nice, earthy ground.

Instead, he was side slammed by another force (Pyrrha Nikos, by the sound of that grunt), sending him sprawling through the grass sideways, skidding to a halt at the base of another tree.

"I'm sorry!" his partner said, dashing over from the corner of his eye. Jaune (woozy, tired, and thankful for the gradual aura flow seeping into his aches) accepted her hand as she hoisted him up, balancing him so he stood on his own. "We're going to have to work on this stuff more often."

"You're telling me? I got my butt kicked by a tree. Twice."

"Well, second part was your fault – whoa, easy, just stand still for a second – loading that much aura into your legs like that. I told you, you've got more thank you know what to do with, you need to ration it or you'll never progress."

"Pyrrha…"

"And honestly, giving up like that on that last fall? What if it was a Grimm waiting for you down there and not a bunch of grass? Giving up isn't going to solve anything, you need to be alert at all times, especially when you're hurt and tired. That's when you're more susceptible to weakness, and when your enemies will strike out next."

"Pyrrha…"

"Although, I have to say, nice job getting Milo out of the tree like that. I would have ripped it clean out, but since you don't have that kind of physical strength – no offense – you relied on your cunning and mental skill instead to get the job done quicker, instead of being stuck on one solution like so many other people I've seen –"

"Pyrrha!"

"Hmm?" she finally stopped nagging, facing Jaune who hadn't followed her as she absently started walking into the forest. "Oh! I'm sorry, I shouldn't leave you here like that, I guess I was caught up in my feedback so I –"

"Pyrrha… not that," Jaune said, voice low and probing. "It's okay."

She continued to look at him, seeming to not understand his meaning. But he knew she got it. The way her shoulders curved enough to show she was faking her normally natural confidence; a different light shining behind her brilliant green eyes, mouth set boldly to match her stare; arms crossed for that look of security she normally portrayed with hands on hips.

She wasn't relaxed. She wasn't confident. At least not now. And as she had taught Jaune long ago, you don't bottle things up and you don't hide from your best friend.

Pyrrha sighed, her front melting as she took a few steps closer towards her partner and longtime best friend. Head lowered, she approached him, arms looping instinctively around his neck, face burying into its familiar cranny of his shoulder. She let out a deep breath, melting into the hug as he set his own tired arms around her back, his head resting atop hers.

"I shouldn't be the one needing this," she said softly, her quavering voice already muffled by his padding.

"I was scared too you know," Jaune answered, holding her a bit closer as he spoke.

"Of course you were, you were the one flying around in a panic and nearly dying. Or getting seriously hurt in the process."

He shrugged. "Wasn't that bad. I think I'm getting more aerodynamic with every shenanigan I get into."

She was silent. "Still," and Jaune felt her arms tighten around his neck, fingers _just_ grazing between that nape of skin slightly above the back of his hoodie and where his hair ended in the back, "please… just, be more careful, okay?"

He sighed. "I try, Pyr. It's… still new to me. Being such a badass and all."

He felt her smile through the padding his hoodie and armor. "Well, you got four years to grow on that. Maybe then you can label yourself a badass and not set off all the lie detectors in a five mile radius."

They pulled away from the embrace, smiling sheepishly at each other. They weren't this genuinely affectionate often, if ever. They expressed friendship better through quips and laughs and one-upmanship… but sometimes things like this were inevitable.

Jaune sighed. "Well, I think my Aura's up again. Ready to try again?"

"Okay, but just so you know," Pyrrha said, leaning in smugly, "that's what she said."

"That doesn't even make sense," he replied, already walking alongside his partner. "That sounds more like a 'that's what _he_ said' joke."

"Oh, take a course in gender identity, Dust knows you need it," she shot back, sticking her tongue out at him as she passed.

"Not as bad as you need a box of tissues, my shoulder's damp from after that hug. You been slicing onions all day, or are these tears just something you repress for moments like this?"

Pyrrha mock sneezed, rubbing the bottom of her nose to try and hide her spreading blush. "Sorry, I, uh, am coming down from a pretty bad cold. Runny nose, you know."

Jaune grinned. "Whatever you say, Nikos."


	13. Chapter 13: Ren

_Phew! Another chapter out! That was a doozy._

_I'm so sorry about the wait there, friends! I meant to have this one out a while back, but it's been a busy last few weeks for this here writer and my start for this chapter was delayed thanks to a brief period of writers block. I'm glad to have been hearing from you guys about volume two (can you believe it?! so much awesome already, lets just hope to see more indepth looks at Team JNPR!) and about this story's progress. As an update, I wanted to let you know that as of Aug. 25, I am returning to college. That's bad news because my time to write here for JNPR AU, Audiophiles of Remnant, and a few unreleased projects is going to be severely hampered by my classes. Good news is, I will be taking a Creative Writing class that might help me out here when I do return!_

_Not to say I won't be updating; I still will, here and there. FlipFlop will be top priority, and at the moment I am also writing chapters for Audiophiles of Remnant (AoR) that will be published sporatically. Stay tuned at the end of this for a brief glimpse at what I have thus far for AoR Chapter 3!_

* * *

Chapter 13: Ren

The forest in this area was a lot quieter than Ren had imagined. The only sounds he heard thus far had been the rustling of leaves as he strode through the undergrowth and distant cries of students and Grimm fighting. Nothing seemed to happen over here, however; Ren was surprised at how uneventful things were going so far. He had managed scale his way down one of the gargantuan trees, using StormFlower's blades almost as skates to glide, spiraling his way around the trunk until he skidded to a stop, feet rising up a gentle cloud of dust. Once that dust had settled, however, the only movement in the forest was wind in the leaves and a boy wandering towards an abandoned temple; everything else was eerily still.

Regardless of his solitude, Ren's senses were at an all-time high, every sense aiding his aura in telling where danger of any kind could strike. He gave off a relaxed, confident air, but underneath he was coiled and ready to strike, hands ready to unleash twin pistols of fury on anyone – or anything – that would do him harm.

Twenty feet to his right a twig snapped. Automatically, one half of StormFlower slid into his right palm, his torso spinning to face his target. All he saw was the cottontail of a harmless rabbit flitter away into the forest, twig after twig breaking under its frame as it bounded off.

Ren sighed, not letting his guard down but stowing StormFlower back in his sleeve anyways. _Mother would say I'm going overboard,_ Ren thought to himself, continuing his trek through the forest in tense silence. He did ease up a little, allowing what parts of his mind not occupied with staying alive to mull over one of the next orders of business – partners.

_Now I'm sure Blake had made her way in this area. I lost track of her during my descent, but if she's anything like me she'll be headed toward the temple immediately, which should be a little to the east if my view of the forest said anything._ Ren stepped gingerly over a tangle of bramble, giving himself enough allowance to avoid getting his coattails caught.

A flare in Ren's aura made the boy freeze, his eyes darting back and forth through the woods. Something was lurking in the shadows; a lot of somethings by the feel of it. Slowly, Ren shifted his stance into combat more, body instinctually moving his hands up warily as his feet slid apart, bracing him for any oncoming blows.

As suspected, one of the many shadows around him slunk out of its hiding place, an aggressive snarl emanating from behind bared fangs. Its red eyes were soon joined by another set. And then another. Soon, the whole pack – twenty three in total if his count was right, and it almost always was – had surrounded him, keeping low as they circled the young hunter.

_Beowolves._

Nimbly shuffling through all he had read on the creatures, his mind flicking through pages and pages of information, Ren kept a sharp eye focused on the beasts, never taking his eyes off them but never keeping his gaze locked on just one for two long. These Grimm worked in packs, and were quick to take any opportunity to dispose of those foolish enough to get caught in their midst.

Ren felt every eye set on him, cold cunning practically dripping from their stares as she turned to meet each one face to face. He knew that even now – especially now – they were planning, calculating his every move, formulating their own attacks based of his own. They would not attack until he did; they would not leap until he drew his weapons or showed any sign of hostility.

Knowing this all too well, Ren kept a calm exterior, not giving away the lightning quick mind behind the black framed glasses. The Beowolves continued their circling, their slumped forms stalking around on their hind legs, bony spines shining in the afternoon light.

Finally, StormFlower shot out of his sleeves, clicking into place with a lightning quick thrust.

Instantaneously, three of the wolves leapt the five foot distance, at his throat in a heartbeat. They would have, anyways, if not for Ren swinging around a good 180 degrees, his left leg sweeping up like a pendulum as it connected with the ribcage of the beast that had tried to grab him from behind. The other two received a mouthful of Dust as the two bladed pistols unloaded a quick flurry of rounds down their roaring maws.

In response, a chorus of snarls and hisses signaled the other pack members were preparing to attack. As the three Beowolves collapsed on the ground, two of them dead on impact, another five leapt up to take their places. Ren snarled, leaping backwards to avoid the long gangly arms that swiped across to where he once was standing. He was caught in the middle of the fray, wolves growling at him as she in turn was forced to turn every which way, slashing aggressively with the bladed ends of his weapon. He managed to hold off a few, deepening gashes on their muzzles and forcing temporary retreat, but Ren was greatly outnumbered. Kicking one particularly fierce Beowolf square in the chest, Ren bashed one StormFlower against another's skull, shooting a quick round into his forehead before using the dead beast as a shield against two more.

A quick glance to his surroundings confirmed his suspicions that the wolves were slowly but surely edging him closer towards one of the broader trees in the area. Hoping to regain some ground, Ren ducked as one of the lycanthropic Grimm lunged towards him, returning the favor with a fatal slash to the neck and a shove backwards. The rewarding crunch as the dead Beowolves spines connected with one behind it made the normally somber boy smirk.

A slash to his back returned the boy back to the rest of the battle, anger and pain welling up inside of him as he whirled around with a grunt to imbed the pistol's blade into the attacker's skull. Gurgling back a fountain of black blood, the beast fell back with a sickening thump. Ren grappled for the hilt of his weapon, but it was no use; the force that he had driven the left half of StormFlower into the skull had lodged it there tightly, and he didn't have the time to waste trying to pull it out.

Stuck with one pistol, Ren sighed angrily. _Wonderful._ Still, it wasn't a complete disadvantage; most of the pack had thinned out over the course of the fight, with nearly half the pack strewn across the ground. What wolves weren't dead were reforming, leaning on their long front legs around the larger, more imposing figure of the Alpha. The meaner pack leader narrowed its vibrant red eyes, a deep growl rising in its throat. Ren returned the gesture, his magenta eyes narrowed blue behind his color-changing lenses.

As if on signal, the pack leapt back into action, four of the eleven charging forward as the remainder minus the Alpha circled around to catch the lotus boy from behind. Ren turned backwards, propelling himself head over heels as he nimbly flipped out of reach. Using his momentum to launch himself up the trunk of the tree the Beowolves had tried to corner him against, Ren launched himself over and behind the feral back, slashing down with his remaining pistol with an aura fueled swipe as he emptied his clip into their backs. The four Grimm that had attempted to cut him off from the front went down without a fight, their tough hides riddled with holes where the Dust shells had blown through. The six hadn't fared any better; the bladed end of StormFlower, while small, had been a conduit for Ren to extend his Aura offensively, creating a vibrant pink arc that sheared the Beowolves across their backs with a spray of blood.

Landing with a crouch, Ren swung his head up to face the Alpha, who had wasted no time in closing the distance between the two of them. The bespectacled hunter remained crouched where he was, timing his next move as the lumbering Alpha approached and, with a leap, raised its claws to try and slam them down onto it's opponent.

It was this moment that Ren knew the beast was most vulnerable. It's long, muscular arms were raised for a strike to the armpits, which would either kill it or leaving it on the brink of death and easier to dispose of; being at gravities whim, a well-placed kick to the chest could knock the breath out of it and stun the Grimm as it crashed to the ground to be knocked unconscious; even without his weapon, Ren could just as well use an aura blast to pop it's head like a grape – a move he only wanted to save if he was desperate enough to risk his aura reserves on the beast.

All he needed was a well placed move, one to catch the wolf-Grimm off guard so he'd retain his upper hand in this fight. Ren allowed himself a small flickering moment of pride; even if for one, small moment in his life, everything had lined up how he wanted.

"Watch out! He's gonna get you!"

It was of course, at this one moment when he didn't need to be startled, Ren jumped at the loud exclamation. That was enough of a break in his focus for the behemoth of a wolf to crash down on him, clawed hands knocking the last half of StormFlower from his grasp. The impact alone sent the boy careening back several feet in the process, earning a grunt in pain from sliding so far with such a huge impact. That pain, however, had ebbed halfway through, and was then replaced by a sharper, fresher agony of the Alpha Beowolf landing square on his chest and batting him across the face with the other gruesome paw.

"Aauuuugh!" _The unfortunate thing about Aura,_ Ren was realizing as his twisted neck popped back into place and the lacerations on his cheeks sealed themselves shut, _is that the pain is still unbearable even after you've been healed._ His scream had emboldened the pack leader, who, despite having no soul, must have had a wonderful sense of humor – Ren could have sworn the beast was grinning wickedly at his prey's misfortune.

It twisted around, ready to deal a second, more fatal blow to Ren's neck – and then shrieked as a cloud of pink dust exploded like a mockery of a halo around it's head. Ren used the beast's shift in weight to roll out from under it, kicking it twice in the stomach to send it on its back. The boy's hand began to shine a soft green color, his Aura reinforcing each knuckle and tendon with his own soul's strength.

Gritting his teeth, the boy thrust his palm straight back into the Grimm's head, the satisfying crunch of bone and meat collapsing in on itself preceding a rather violent explosion that ended with a green flash as his Aura cut off. Ren propped himself on his knees, his lungs heaving exhaustedly as he fought to regain his normally calm composure.

"Hiya! Hope I didn't scare you back there, I just saw you were having trouble with that big ole beastie so I wanted to warn you, but I guess you didn't react in time. Anyway, I shot him in the head so he wouldn't see it when you killed him, which you did AMAZINGLY by the way, with your big KAPOOWIE of Aura! I wish my Aura could do that, I'm working on making it stronger. Oh! By the way, this is Magnhild! I use him to distract that Beowolf for you! I totally could have killed him, but Papa told me it wasn't nice to kill other people's prizes without asking. I set him on a lower gauge so his canisters wouldn't _completely_ hurt the Beowolf – oh, I'm talking about Magnihild, not my dad! I can't set my dad to a lower gauge, I'm not sure how that would even work! Maybe that means I would –"

_Of course._ He was in the middle of a life and death fight and the one person who was going to come and nearly get him killed wasn't even who he had hoped to be partners with. He sighed, righting himself and, dread weighing down his footsteps walked over to retrieve his discarded weapons.

"… which doesn't add up, I mean, honestly, I would have thought she would have loved her lunch pink! I mean I didn't know that spray paint was toxic and we had run out of food coloring, but oh well! Who doesn't love pink? I obviously do – I got the skirt, the shoes, the gloves, the everything! – my mom thinks it brings out my eyes, which is weird 'cause I got green eyes – and OH MY GOD YOUR EYES!"

Ren froze. Slowly, with absolute dread weighing down his veins, Ren felt up along his face, patting the soft skin of his cheeks, forehead, and around his eyes. And that was all he felt.

_She had seen._

"My glasses!" Ren shouted, panic shattering through his icy exterior and making itself know for all the world to see. He darted around and between the carcasses of lupine monsters, desperately trying to find the black rimmed saviors that he hadn't realized had gone missing.

_Oh for the love of Shawcross, they're gone! I could have sworn I put the combat band on so they wouldn't fall off during the initiation! Crap, now she's seen me like this, I'm going to get so much unwanted attention. Act cool Ren, try to act cool, she's just a crazy girl, but she knows people and she's gonna slip about it and next thing you know it's gonna be "freak" this and "girly" that, and – wait, no I can just find them here, fix whatever's wrong, and everyone will just pass it off as Nora being her crazy self again! See problem solved! Now, I'm sure they could have fallen off over here…_

"Found 'em!" Nora triumphantly pointed at the base of a tree she was only a few feet away from. "I think they flew off when you got smacked by that Alpha! I thought I saw something fly by, but I wouldn't have thought it was a pair of glasses, because glasses don't… fly…"

While he was surprised that the normally loony girl had been looking for his glasses, not to mention finding them before he did, what really threw him off was the fact that Nora had slowed from a rapid-fire barrage of endless chatter to silence, and her normally perky smile changed to a more concerned frown.

This can't be good Ren thought darkly, stalking his way over to where Nora was standing. He ignored her assurances of "I didn't do anything thing" and "I found them like this" and "I can break the tree's roots for you, I think it was the tree's fault, and you already killed the Beowolf so there isn't really anyone else we can beat up for it"; he instead bent down and picked the glasses up by one limp temple.

The bridge had broken, as had part of the frame around the left eye piece, but what got to Ren the most were the lenses – or what was left of them. Only jagged edges were left here and there on the perimeter of the rims; the rest of the glass lay in a pebble-like mess at his feet, glinting in the afternoon sun in all their useless beauty.

_It would have been easier letting myself just get killed,_ Ren mulled to himself miserably. _I guess I'm just going to have to repeat those horrid years once more._

* * *

_ Crazy, huh? I will likely get started on the follow up chapter to this as soon as I can - we've only got PoVs from Pyrrha, Nora, Weiss, and Blake left, as well as a chapter or three dedicated to the formation of teams and he end of initiation. _

_Since I don't want to spill any more than I need to, here's a look at "AoR" for those of you who've been dying for more of that!_

Respite from the Quiet

Frowning a bit and trying to avoid getting jealous of her, Blake instead directed her attention to the books her customer was buying. All of them caught Blake's eye as she scanned them: _Teaching Music to Beginners, An Intro to Guitar,_ and _1001 Tutoring Techniques for Music Teachers_. Blake glanced up at the girl, who couldn't possibly be older than herself by at least a year.

"You teach guitar?"

"Hmm?" The red head had been glancing around the store and snapped back to Blake.

"All these books. It looks like you're starting to teach or already teach music? Like guitar?"

"Oh yeah!" the redhead enthused, tapping one of the books thoughtfully. "It's something I'm starting up mostly to help me get through college. I've taken a lot of classes and been playing since I was little, so I thought it would be a good additional income alongside my waitressing job."

"Interesting." Punching a few keys, Blake glanced up at her again. "That'll be thirty dollars and sixty one cents."

"Oh, of course." Reaching behind her and retrieving a red and gold checkered wallet, the guitar teacher leafed through cards and bills, fingers picking through carefully. "How about you?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you play anything?" The girl, still looking happy as usual - _How she can do that all the time and not get tired is amazing_ Blake mused to herself – fished out her Eureka Card, which she swiped as the receipt crawled out from its slot. "Guitar, piano, anything like that?"

"Oh." Blake bit her lip; _why do I have to act like this is some secret?_ "I took piano lessons as a kid, and can play cello decently." Both of which were partially true; Blake had actually ranked third in her entire school during her music seminar and had actually been a part of a small symphony piece on the cello and harp, mostly to volunteer at the museum. The piano in her apartment was still occasionally capable of reliving it's melodic past on the few nights Blake managed to get her assignments done on time and wasn't working late.

The red head nodded, insouciant expression almost encouraging Blake to continue her music passion. "Awesome! That sounds like a lot of fun; I'm more skilled on guitar. Piano never was my thing, but I still try my hand at keyboard now and then. You know, for fun."

"Right," Blake remarked, peering behind the girl; she'd usually use the excuse that there were more people waiting to purchase in order to get this girl to move along, but unfortunately the only other customer was already getting taken care of. "So," she gestured to the books, which were all bagged up and ready to go. "Is this all I can help you with?"


	14. Chapter 14: Roundup 1

Chapter 14

**Weiss:**

"Will you please – ugh, hey! That one was mine!"

If there was one thing Weiss was learning about her partner, it was that the red-head was not one for poise and skill, especially during combat.

"Ruby!" The heirs stamped her foot, not for the first time since they "jumped" the Beowolves – and not for the last time, no doubt – and quickly slashed at one of the Beowolves that sprung up to attack her. "Ruby, I'd appreci – hey! Don't touch the skirt! – I'd appreciate it if you stopped – AUGH – getting in my way!"

The red huntress stopped mid zoom; of course she had to have speed as a semblance, Weiss thought glumly. Ruby turned around, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Hmm? Oh, okay! I'm sorry, I'll take this half then?"

Not the solution she was hoping for, but Weiss accepted it – bitterly, but still accepted it. She spun on her heel and turned to face one of the few beowolves not demolished by the hyperactive red head.

_Easy, girl,_ she thought to herself, letting out her breath in a harsh puff. Feet slid into the usual formation, hands up warily as she poised the tip of Myrnaster at the Beowolf approaching her. _Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward - not that forward! - slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and..._ _**Now!**_

Weiss sprung forward a heartbeat ahead of the lumbering beowolf, letting loose a stream of fire from Myrtenaster with a flick of her wrist.

The funny thing is, that fire would have stopped the beowolf dead in its tracks, if not for a neatly placed headshot from a hyperactive reaper.

Instead, the jet of flame reared back and enveloped an innocent tree, flames already cackling up the sides and splintering bark. The forest being as dense as it was, it wasn't long before other trees in the surrounding area decided to join in on the fun and wear the burning attire of their friend. As if on cue, several squirrels screamed and dashed from the tree – not Grim squirrels, just the completely innocent, normal squirrels.

None of which seemed to pop up on Ruby Rose's radar until she bumped into a dumbstruck Weiss.

"Woohoo! They're all dead! Ruby 1, Grimm 0, lets – ooph! Hey partner, what's going- OH."

Weiss sighed, flicking her rapier twice – once to set the revolving chamber to "wind" the other to send a miniature gale to put out the flaming aspen.

"Hehe… sorry for getting carried away there, Weiss. Heat of the moment, ya know?"

The only response the heiress allowed herself to give was a disgruntled groan, spinning on her heel deftly and stalking into the forest. "You're so immature," she muttered to herself. She'd hoped Ruby was more mature for her age, but she was regrettably proved wrong by the stuntshow back there. _At least she isn't like that dunce of a ginger Nora…_

The scuffing of boots through the grass, as well as the nagging feeling that someone was walking next to her, informed Weiss that Ruby had bounded up next to her and was walking next to her, likely staring at her all the while.

"So! We're we going next? I think I saw a clearing not too far from here, if you want I can take a look out and see where we are?"

Weiss sighed. "Go on ahead. But I'm positive I know where we're going."

Ruby's smile faltered a little; she probably seemed to pick up on the dry tone Weiss was using. Instead of asking, she merely shrugged. "Okie-dokie! Be back in a split!"

A swirl of rose petals later, she was gone, leaving Weiss to stand with her thoughts. She honestly had no idea where they were in relation to the temple, but since Ruby was obviously the more immature one of the two, Weiss wasn't going to let a girl hardly her age lead her through the forest.

"WELL," Ruby said, interrupting Weiss' thoughts with a startling return, "scoped all around, I think the temple is – "

"RUBY!" Weiss had it. "Could you please stop _doing_ that?! You're driving me nuts, just slow down for two seconds, alright?! Don't you have any idea how to act your age?!"

A mortified Ruby stared back at her, eyes wide and mouth pulled tight. "I – I'm so sorry, Weiss, I'm just really, REALLY excited, and I found the temple so I guess I got carried away…?"

The heiress sighed. _Maybe this was why Winter was so hesitant to talk to me about Dad any more._ "Look, Ruby, I know you're probably thrilled to be here, and I agree – it is a big deal. But you can't just barge around like that psychotic Nora girl and spit out a hundred words a minute. Just… try to settle down until we get to the temple, okay?"

Ruby nodded; her shoulders and hurt eyes, however, refused to unstiffen as the two of them set out. "Okay, I'm sorry for – wait. Nora? Was she the girl at breakfast this morning?"

"Yes," Weiss replied absently, stepping over a large log. "Don't worry, you're nowhere near as bad as her."

"But – but she seemed so nice! A little on the loud side, but still, what do you mean she's bad? Does she have trouble in combat? Is she really mean to people?"

This wasn't heading where Weiss wanted it to go; she'd have to watch her mouth around Ruby. "Look, just take my word for it when I say she isn't worth the time.

"Now come on, we need to get to the temple soon. You did scope out the way, right?"

"Y-yeah, we need to go more to the left. It's easier than it seems, getting there that is."

"What a relief. Let's get this over with so we can head inside and form a team already. Hopefully we'll be on the same team as Blake, you remember her, right?

Weiss didn't bother looking back at Ruby as they trudged through the forest. She also didn't bother hearing the sad undertones in Ruby's response, too lost in her own thoughts for the remark to truly register."

"Yeah… she sure seems _fun._"

**Nora:**

The silence was what was really getting to Nora.

She had given up on skipping twelve trees back, and stopped talking three trees ago. She wasn't running out of things to say – in fact she still hadn't finished explaining why her mother had drilled into her the importance of a balanced breakfast – nor had her throat gone dry. The real issue here was that the tall boy who was supposed to be her partner was trudging forward, his eyes averted, with a scowl that cut the words from her throat as she let them out.

Who wanted to share their secrets of good health and robust eating when they had that walking next to you?

She had tried to get him to say something, but since their run in he had not said a single word. Not even a glance or a smile or even any sign that he knew she was there - outside of ignoring the fact that she was, of course.

"Hey," she finally tried, giving a halfhearted smile and a weaker wave in his direction (it wasn't her fault he was kinda scary).

He finally cast a glance in her direction. The broken glasses, which he stubbornly wore on his face, still translated some of the pink in his eyes into blue, giving his glare an unsettling shattered look. While she almost withered underneath the stare, she tried to press on a little more.

"Hey, uh, y-you know… d-do you need those to, like, see far away stuff, or close up stuff? I mean, they don't really work now soooooooo… er, uh, do you need to still wear them?"

Ren puffed out a breath of air, loaded with frustration. "Don't talk to me about it. You wouldn't understand."

"Uh… but they're all busted! The glass too, you could really hurt yourself, and like cut your eyes open in battle, and you'd be blind, and bump into stuff, and –"

"I _know_," he almost growled. Nora saw more than heard the venom and, miraculously, stopped tripping over her own words.

They kept on walking, her confrontation only opening up a fresh welt of awkwardness that clouded the atmosphere. In true Nora fashion, she tried to amend it by doing the only thing she knew how – talk insistently regardless of how that had already fared.

"I like pink!"

Ren stiffened, but said nothing.

"I wear it a lot. It's really a good color; I'm surprised not a lot of people appreciate it as much as they should. Like you've got a really nice set of eyes that are pink! Not that I want your eyes, I mean what would I do with a pair of eyeballs, that's probably illegal! Not having eyeballs, but like taking them from people just 'cause you like the color of them! But I mean, like, your eyes aren't that bad of eyes, I've seen some pretty crazy colors, like purple and red, and pink is a little not-as-seen, but that's good! Makes you stand out and look cool and people are like "wow, I wish I had pink eyes, but I can't steal them because eyes probably smell after a while!"

"Nora, please sto -"

"And no one wants to smell that bad, 'cause then people wouldn't want to be around you! Like, come on, smelling bad is, well, bad! If you smell bad it makes sense that people don't want to be around you, not if you're tall or short or fat or talk a lot or have something like that! I mean, I've had a lot of friends and all the good friends don't say 'we can't be friends because you have big hair' or something silly like that. So don't worry if someone doesn't like a little something about you! I don't, and I have plenty of people to be with! Well, not as much as I did at my old school, but it's only been a two days, and I already met so many people –oh! AND I got my partner! You!" She ended her speech with a big smile, hands clasped in front of her.

Ren just continued to look at her, probably blown away by what she said and ready to not be so worried. She didn't have much time to ask him more about himself – or Blake and how she was doing – because she suddenly heard a loud rustling behind her.

"OH!" She said, spinning around suddenly.

"Nor-" Ren started, but Nora was too wrapped up to listen.

"Sh-sh-sh-sh," she whispered, waving a hand to silence her partner. Can't have him talking too loud and disturbing the possible Grimm lurking around every corner.

Nora, while loud mouthed and volatile, knew how to be focused when she needed to be. And if those spines she saw just over the bushes were anything to go off of, she ahd to act quick if she wanted to nab this guy.

"Nora…" Ren said cautiously.

"Bu-bu-bu-bu!" she babbled, holding up a hand to shush him. She slowly reached around and withdrew Magnihild from it's place on her back, aiming the barrel end at where she suspected the Ursa's back to be.

"On my signal," she breathed sharply, "hold on tight."

"Uh-"

"KRAW! KRAW!" Nora yelled sharply, blasting one of her pink canisters so it broke off a spine on the Ursa's back. Immediately the massive bear reared up on it's hind legs, an ear-shattering roar ringing out from it's maw.

In the exact same, fluid motion, Nora had swung her weapon around so it transitioned into hammer form, her free hand grabbing Ren by the scruff of her shirt as she launched both of them onto the Ursa's back. "Hold on!" she warned, her legs clenching the meaty sides of the animal as she bashed it in the ribs with the mallet end.

The Ursa lurched forward, breaking into a sprint with every whack that Nora was dealing it. She had seen the temple as she was flying down through the trees – or was it falling desperately? – so she urged the beast to veer in the direction she remembered seeing it.

This, right here, was where Nora felt alive. Wind rushing in her hair, knowing she had conqured the beast – anyone could kill, but to momentarily tame the monsters to her will – that was something she could brag about. Her weapon's weight, the danger, the screams of the boy clutching desperately to the spines of the bear as he shouted incomprehensively; all that melted away.

Nora, all smiles, was happy.

* * *

**I so desperately wanted this out before Volume 2 ended. I really wanted you guys to have this as soon as possible. Hopefully there will be a sooner update for you guys, I've gotten a lot of good reviews/questions in between this chapter and the one before it. As a way of keeping you posted, things will be tougher to work on with me, I'm writing up a storm and having a hard time transitioning between the two halves of this piece. **

**I hope you all milk this for what it's worth, you'll need it to last you a while.**

**-thd**


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